Dark Sister
by Jedi-TARDIS-Chick101
Summary: A young Sith has appeared out of nowhere, striking important Republic bases. Obi-Wan, Anakin and Ahsoka are assigned to bring her down, but how will Obi-Wan and Ahsoka explain to Anakin the devastating truth they have learned about his family? About his... sister. No Ventress, but twice the Chosen One.
1. Chapter 1

Anakin's POV

She had come out of nowhere. A few months ago a sith my age (and it's pretty rare to find a twenty year old sith) had attacked a small but important base on one of Trandosha's moon. Two months later she reappeared on Kashyyk and easily slaughtered eight wookies who were acting as security for a visiting senator who, thankfully, escaped unharmed.

No one knows anything about this mysterious girl except what she looks like and that she's sith. Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and I have been assigned to try to find out who she is, who she's working for and to stop her, so I've looked up the newly made files on her which are full of pictures and videos. I have to admit, she's actually beautiful. Long dark hair tied in pigtails and another ponytail on top with some of it loose, olive skin, blue eyes and dressed all in short black garments. Definitely the best looking sith I've ever seen.

She has amazing fighting skills and very good technique with her twin red blades. I noticed how one was ready to block an attack while the other was attacking. From the videos I've seen she's very acrobatic; flipping, jumping, bending and kicking all over the place. It was quite amazing, even by my standards. Even still, I doubt she'd be able to take on three Jedi.

I headed to Ahsoka's dorm. She shared a room with Barriss Offee, I shared one with Obi-Wan, who had gone to report to the Council we were leaving.

I knocked on the door and Ahsoka opened it. Barriss was sitting on her bed. "Hey Skyguy." she said, letting me in. I sat down on a chair in the corner of the room. "I better be leaving then." Barriss said, getting up and heading to the door. "Bye Ahsoka, Master Skywalker." she said. Ahsoka waved and I nodded my head.

"So tell me Master, what exactly is our plan for finding Darth Deadly?" she asked. "Simple," I said. "The way she's attacking Republic related people or places, she's almost definitely working with the Separatists, which means Dooku. So you, Obi-Wan and I cause tons of Separatist trouble so that we're next on Dooku's wanted list." I finished. "Don't we already do that?" "Yeah, we just need to remind them." I grinned.

By the time Obi-Wan came in, Ahsoka and I had gone from talking about the young Sith to Dooku to Podracing to Dooku Podracing. It was quite an amusing conversation. "I can see you're on topic." he said, but I could hear the humor in his voice.

"Now, where should we start causing Separatist mayhem?" he asked.

"Our spies have intercepted a Separatist transmission: They've got a secret and very important base on Corellia." I said.

"What's the base for?" Ahsoka asked.

"It's a training base, for force sensitives by the look of it. It's possible this is where Dooku trained his apprentice."

"So she's definitely been trained by Dooku?" said Ahsoka. Obi-Wan nodded.

"They've got the same fighting style, she's attacked Republic bases and of course she has her twin red blades."

"So Corellia it is." Ahsoka said, getting up. Anakin joined her and the three of them walked out the door towards the hangar.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Chapter 2 is here! Admittedly, I'm not entirely happy with it, but I promise the next chapters will be more exciting!**

Ahsoka's POV

I looked out the cockpit window at the blue-black hyperspace vortex. It was nothing I hadn't seen before, light speed and all, but it was still amazing. The Twilight emerged in front of a beautiful blue-green planet, that I couldn't help but relate to Naboo.

Anakin guided the ship down and landed it in a clearing. "The base isn't far from here. We'll approach on foot, sneak inside, check some stuff out and blow it up." he said, exiting the Twilight. Obi-Wan and I followed him.

We emerged into a forest of green, flowers and sunlight. I saw a few strange looking animals scuttle off upon seeing us. Anakin had already started off down a thin little forest path. Obi-Wan and I jogged to catch up to him.

Eventually the trees began to thin out and a large metal building came into view. Ok, large was an understatement. It was HUGE. Anakin motioned to us from behind a big tree and we went to join him. He pointed to two battle droids that were guarding the entrance to the facility, then at Obi-Wan, a rock and then jerked his finger toward another tree. Obi-Wan nodded and dashed behind it.

Obi-Wan used the force to hurl the rock Anakin had pointed at to the left of the droids, who then ran off towards it. Anakin jumped from behind the tree and landed silently behind the droids, then cut them in half with his lightsaber. Obi-Wan and I ran over to him, opened the hatch to the facility and entered.

Obi-Wan's POV

The inside of the facility was much like the outside; silver, grey and metallic, only it was brightly lit. "Okay," I said in a hushed voice. "first we look around lots of the rooms, see what we can find; maybe evidence of Dooku's apprentice being here, then make sure there are no people being kept here, then we'll do what Anakin's been obsessing over lately; blowing it up." I said. "Obsessing, me?"said Anakin innocently. I nodded and Anakin rolled his eyes.

We continued walking until the hallway split off into two directions. Anakin and Ahsoka took the right, and I took the left. My mind was filled with all the stupid things that could go wrong with this plan, but I kept searching.

It wasn't until about twenty minutes later that I found anything interesting: the end of a transmission. It was breaking up a lot, and it was hard to make out the people's voices, but it was a three-way transmission. I could just make out Dooku and the girl, who was bowing. I could just hear him say "You have done well, Verity Tyleen." So that was the name of his apprentice. I scanned the rest of the recording, but couldn't find anything else of use.

Suddenly, I heard a loud explosion coming from the other side of the complex. My comlink beeped, I answered it and raised it close to my mouth. "Anakin, have you found anything?" I asked leaving the room where I found the recording. "You might say that." he replied. He was breathing heavily, like he was running. "What is it?" I asked, wondering what trouble he could of gotten into in such a short time. "Who do you think? It's her!" he roared. "What! Where are you" I said. "South corner, near their hangar!" "I'm on my way!" I sprinted down the hallway and suddenly felt nervous. Just a little. From what I could tell, Anakin was running _away_ from Tyleen, and anything Anakin ran away from was not good. I had a small holo-map of the base, and took a short cut to meet up with Anakin and Ahsoka.

I rounded a corner and nearly smashed into Anakin, who was running at full speed. Or at least as fast as he could go with an unconscious Ahsoka in his arms. "Keep running!" he said, dashing towards the hatch we came in through. I ran with him, despite still being majorly confused. "Anakin!" I said, "Why are you running? We need to apprehend her!" "Because she's doing our job for us!" he yelled, running through the hatch and towards the Twilight. "What?" I yelled, growing slightly impatient and more confused. "She's blowing up the base!" he yelled back, bolting into the Twilight. Anakin dumped Ahsoka into her seat and started up the engines. I sat next to him and stared towards the base. The ship lifted off the ground and Anakin flew it a safe distance from the base.

A small fighter shot out of the base mere seconds before it exploded in a ball of fire and debris. Anakin didn't hesitate for a second and sped off after the other ship. He let out a round of shots, trying to hit it, but the pilot dodged them almost easily. Suddenly the ship seemed to slow, then it shot off into hyperspace. Anakin banged his fist against the controls and I was going calm him down when he got up and started walking back to Ahsoka.

I was about to ask what happened to her when the screen on the ship controls lit up with Verity Tyleen's face. "Anakin! She's contacting us." I called, my eyes glued to the screen. I heard Anakin mutter something and he was obviously annoyed, but he came over regardlessly.

"Well well well, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker and a togruta padawan. I can't say you weren't expected. I was warned there'd be lots of people after me." Tyleen said, a sly smile on her face. "That's kinda what you should expect when you join the sith." Anakin said coldly. " _Join? _I didn't _join_ the sith! I was _brought up_ as a sith! It's my life, and it always will be." she said, like it was completely obvious. "Look, I'm a bit busy right now so just let me get my message across: you don't need look for me, cause sooner or later I'll be sent after you, and you don't want that." she laughed "I'm personally looking forward to it; my first Jedi kills!" she laughed again and the transmission ended. "Well," I said "That was easier than I expected.

**I hope it was ok. I'll start on the next ones straight away! Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter, and don't worry, it's better than the last one. Time to heat things up a little, I think.**

**Chapter 3**

Dooku's POV

I watched as my holoprojector flickered to life and saw my apprentice appear and bow. She quickly explained how three particular Jedi had found my base on Corellia. She had returned from a mission, found them there and blown up the base to destroy any evidence, but she was not sure how long they had been there, or what they may have discovered.

She kept her story quick and short, just they way I liked it. "I sense you are eager to go after them. You will draw them to you, and you will get your wish." She nodded and I could sense her excitement. "Master, how will I lure them to me?" she asked. "I'll leave that with you." I said. Verity smiled, bowed her head and I ended the transmission.

Verity's POV

I was on a Separatist cruiser, orbiting Geonosis. "258!" I called, and watched as a scrawny looking battle droid approached me. "Yes ma'am?" it said. "Contact General Greivous on Vancor." I said. The droid nodded and walked towards one of the ships many control panels and started pressing buttons furiously. I didn't like General Greivous. He thought he was so powerful, he was disrespectful and a coward, but someone needed to defend this sector and I knew he was free.

I pulled my long black hooded cloak over my shoulders and looked up as Greivous's cybernetic face appeared on a large screen.

"Tyleen, what do you want?" he snarled. He obviously didn't like me either. "The Count has sent me on a very important mission." I said simply. "It's in Republic space, so I can't exactly waltz in over there in a Separatist ship, and I can't leave Geonosis guarded just by a bunch of thick battle droids." A few of the droids looked up, and murmured at that. Greivous groaned, then laughed. "And if I say no?" he asked. "If you say no I'll have another reason to call you a lazy coward." I said. "I'm not a coward!" he yelled. "I am the leader of the most powerful droid army the galax-" "Yeah, whatever. Just get over here, and hurry it up. I'm leaving now." I said, and ended the transmission before he could reply. I silently laughed. He was so thick. Thick and stupid.

I walked over to 258. "General Greivous will be arriving shortly, and you will follow his orders until I return." I pulled my hood over my head, and began walking off when 258 called out to me. "Uh, ma'am?" I stopped and turned, fixing my cold, intimidating stare on the droid that called out. "What?" I snapped. "Uh, where are you going?" it asked. I was annoyed by the droid's curiosity, but laughed. "Me? I'm going on a little trip to Naboo." and with that I walked out off the bridge and headed for where my ship was docked, in the hangar.

I didn't have anything against the senator from Naboo, apart from the fact that she went WAY over the top with outfits. There were four things that defined her as my target: she was a very important Republic senator, she was currently on Naboo which was not very well guarded and she was close friends with Kenobi and Skywalker. I wasn't sure about Skywalker's padawan, but I wasn't really interested in her.

I approached my ship. It was a piece of junk; a banged up _Corellian Freighter? _which I picked up a while ago for when I went on training missions. The bloke who was selling it said it was called the _Millennium Falcon. _I liked the name, so I didn't change it. Despite its deceiving appearance it was fast, and it kept me up to date with my pilot and mechanical skills.

I had left it on the cruiser when I left to go to the base on Corellia because I had to land it in a clearing far from the base, and I was planning on a quick visit. It felt good to be back at its controls again.

I contacted the bridge and told the droids to open the hangar doors. I flew out and set my hyper-drive for Naboo. I pulled down a lever and watched as stars rushed past me.

Ahsoka's POV

I walked along the corridors of the Jedi Temple, looking for my Master. I had just got out of the Med-bay, and was eager to continue our search. When the sith (who Obi-Wan had identified as Verity Tyleen) had activated the base's self destruct setting there was a small explosion, and I had been hit in the face by I chunk of debris. It was nothing serious, but I still had a headache.

I found Anakin in his room, sitting up on his bed and looking troubled. "What is it?" I asked sitting on the bed next to him. He sighed. "I was just thinking about what Tyleen said, about being sent after us. She won't come after us, it's not how sith work. She meant she's going do something that will make us go to her at a specific spot. I'm just worried about how she might do that." he said. I tilted my head in thought. He was right, but what _would _she do? "Yeah, well, I'm not letting her get off easily. I've still got a headache from when that wall blew up in my face!" I cried. Anakin smiled. "How about we go find Obi-Wan and get started on finding her?" he said. I nodded, and together we left the room.

Obi-Wan was in the council chambers discussing the battle on Umbara. We waited for them to finish and caught Obi-Wan when he exited. "I take it you're quite keen to continue the search for Tyleen?" he said as we walked towards the hangar. "Has there been any news?" Anakin asked. "Of Tyleen? No. Dooku, yes. He was spotted around Tatooine, so that's where we're headed." Obi-Wan replied. I saw Anakin shudder. "Ugh. I hope we end up fighting him in a ship." he said.

Anakin took the pilot seat, as usual and we left Coruscant. "Setting coordinates for Tatooine." he murmured.

Padmé's POV

I looked out at the beautiful green, grassy plains of Naboo, and could see a waterfall in the distance. I sighed. It had been so long since I'd been to the lake country. The last time I was here was when I'd married Anakin. I smiled at the thought. I was wearing a long deep red dress and my hair was up in a bun.

I heard something behind me, very soft, barely noticeable. I wouldn't of heard it if this place wasn't so tranquil. I turned around. There was no one there. I turned back towards the lake and suddenly saw a girl standing on the railing in front of me, her arms folded. I wasn't sure why, but she reminded me a little of Anakin.

She wore short black clothes and her hair was up in three ponytails with a little bit down at the back. Her blue eyes stared into mine, her smile was cruel. "Well senator, I must say you almost look normal with your hair like that. Tell me, is there some sort of code senators follow that says they must all dress as strangely as possible, because looking at you normally I'd say there was." The girl raised her eyebrows. I noticed two lightsabers clipped to her belt. Not good. "Who are you? What do you want?" I asked shakily. "Oh, come on miss Amidala, is it really that hard to figure out?" "A sith. Who for whatever reason has come to pick me up." I said. "You got it! And now senator, I'm going to escort you to my ship." she ignited one of her lightsabers, flipped over my head, grabbed me from behind and waved the lightsaber in front of me. I gasped and started breathing heavily. "That's right Amidala, come with me." she said, guiding me towards what I guessed was her ship.

She lead me on board, shoved me in a small room empty except from a small bunk and held out her hand. "What?" I asked, sounding annoyed. "I'm not stupid! Your holoprojector, idiot!" "I handed it over and she checked me for anything else, then left me to wonder what I was going to be used for.

**Hope you liked it. I'll probably have the next chapter done soon, so keep a lookout for it! Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Okay, I got the inspiration for this chapter from Tessika14's comment on Padmé always having an escape plan, so I put that in without messing up my idea for the big events. Enjoy!**

Padmé's POV

I looked around the room. The rickety bunk bed, the sealed door. I had to get out, but how?

I climbed to the top bunk and saw it: a ledge above the door, about two metres long and a meter high. It was over the door, and not visible from the ground. I stood up, I could reach it from the top bed. I pulled myself up and crouched inside it. Perfect.

I found a box in the corner, it was empty but very heavy. A plan began to formulate in my head. I dropped down and walked back to the bunk, removing my hidden screwdriver from the ribbon around my dress. I've kept it with me ever since it helped me escape captivity on Rodia.

I climbed the bunk and used my screwdriver to remove one of the foot-long poles that supported the frame. I hit it against my hand gently. It'll have to do.

Verity's POV

I landed the ship in the hangar and told General Greivous to send a droid escort for the Senator. I left the cockpit and headed for the room I locked Amidala in.

I approached the door and sensed something wrong. I entered and immediately spun around facing up just in time to see a large metal crate smash into my face.

I swore as I heard a soft thud beside me. How had she stayed up on the ceiling? I swore again as a thin but hard metal object slammed into the side of my head. Blood clouded my vision and I heard the door shut beside me. I grunted, shoved the box off me, stood up and made a crumpling motion with my hand that was pointed at the door.

Padmé's POV

The pride that swam through me was quickly replaced by adrenalin, then fear. How long would she be down for?

I grabbed my holoprojector and ran towards the exit. I passed the room the sith was in and stopped and stared in horror.

The door was being crushed right before my eyes. It fell down to reveal the girl, arm extended out to the place the door used to be, her eyes tinged with yellow and red. She glared hatred at me.

She thrust her hand towards me and I was flung against the wall. She made a squeezing motion with her hands and suddenly I couldn't breathe. My hands flew to my throat as I gasped for air. My head was pounding. I felt dizzy.

I stared into her cold eyes and suddenly I was flying through the air. I smashed into the ground, dazed. It took me a few seconds to realize she had thrown me out of the ship.

I was pulled to my by two battle droids and led away. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the girl wipe blood from her face and pull out a black holoprojector. Not mine.

The prison cell was dark and cold but luckily there was only a pair of binders on me. My Holoprojector was safely hidden with my screwdriver in my dress ribbon. I could call for help, and I knew just who I'd call.

Anakin's POV

We'd entered the ship and split up. We were looking for Dooku, as well as checking the holo recordings. Despite my performance on Mortis, I was surprised Obi-Wan let me go on my own.

I had just passed the hangar when my holoprojector beeped. "Skywalker here." I said, but stopped when I saw who was calling. "Padmé! Are you okay? Where are you?" I asked desperately. "I'm okay. Some sith girl caught me on Naboo. I can't get out. I tried before and..." her voice trailed off. I clenched my fists. Tyleen. "I'm gonna need some help." "Where are you." I asked. "I'm sending you my coordinates now." "I'm on my way." I said. She nodded and cut the transmission. I called Obi-Wan immediately. "Obi-Wan, Tyleen has got Senator Amidala. I'm going to get her." "Anakin wait, we need to think!" Obi-Wan yelled. "What we need is information. You can get that here." I said. "What if we run into Dooku?" Ahsoka asked, concerned at remembering what happened to her Master when he was a padawan and fought Dooku. "Can't you sense it? He's not here Ahsoka. He _was _but now he _isn't._ Keep looking through the recordings. I'll take one of the ships in the hangar." I said, running back the way I came. "Just tell us where you're going." Obi-Wan sighed. "I'll send you the coordinates." I said as I ran into the least beat up looking ship and started the engine.

Obi-Wan's POV

I shook my head as we kept on looking. Anakin was reckless. Despite being the Chosen One, I was still worried.

We reached the bridge and Ahsoka started sifting through the recordings when a large screen flickered to life, and Dooku's face appeared on it. It wasn't a recording, it was live.

"Master Kenobi, I've been expecting you. Once my apprentice drew Skywalker away I knew I had my chance." Dooku said, smiling evilly.

"What do you want Dooku?" I said sternly. "I believe you have a few questions for me concerning my apprentice." he said, examining his nails. "If you want the answers, ask now."

I stared in disbelief. "He's not lying." Ahsoka said. "I don't know what this is about, but I think we should take the opportunity." I whispered back.

"Alright then, where's she from?" Ahsoka asked. "She was born into the slave trade on Tatooine, but was bought when she was a few months old by a free couple who raised her. I acquired her when she was eight." he said simply. Not lying again. She was actually born into the same circumstances as Anakin, only she was freed younger. Well, I guess all that time with Dooku would even it out.

"How did you _acquire _her?" I asked. "How else," said Dooku, "I made sure there was no one to care for her." "You orphaned her." I said. Dooku smiled. I glanced at Ahsoka and saw something in her eyes, on her face. A bad suspicion.

"Where does the name Tyleen come from?" she asked. I looked at her, confused but she kept her eyes trained on Dooku. "Was it made up, from her real parents or her adoptive parents?" "I'm rather disappointed Kenobi. Skywalker's padawan is picking it up faster than you." Dooku said. "Where from?" Ahsoka repeated, getting annoyed.

"From what I understand, her mother gave her her first name and she got her last name from her adoptive parents. Only _she _doesn't know that…" he said.

"What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked. "I mean she doesn't know she was adopted." Dooku said. This was not good; Dooku wasn't lying _and_ he was happy, but why would he tell us all this stuff? Unless…

I took a deep breath. "What's her mother's name?" I asked. Dooku grinned. "If I remember correctly… I think it was Shmi Skywalker."

**I hope you liked it! I'll see when I can start the next one. I've got some big fights planned, so keep an eye out for chapter 5!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok guys, next chapter! I decided to have a fight scene at the end of this which I hope you will all enjoy. I literally had to study how people and block people with two lightsabers, so I hope you like it! **

**Chapter 5**

Ahsoka's POV

I stared, open mouthed at Dooku, then Obi-Wan, then Dooku again. Dooku wasn't lying. "Well, I guess I should not hold you up." said Dooku, and he ended the transmission. Obi-Wan continued staring at the screen for a few seconds then turned to me. "Anakin's in trouble. We need to go, now." he said, and sprinted off to where we had docked the Twilight.

"Wait, what?" I said, sprinting after him. "I don't get it, why would Master Skywalker be in anymore trouble than he already was and why would Dooku tell us that in the _first_ place?" I asked as Obi-Wan started up the ship.

He flew it away from the cruiser and set the coordinates Anakin sent him into the hyperdrive. He set us off into light speed, took a deep breath and turned to face me. "Anakin is very attached to the ones he loves. Close friends, family members. When he was still a padawan, just before the battle of Geonosis, Anakin lost his mother, the only family he had left. He didn't take it well, or as a Jedi should. The sith create chaos. It gives them power and makes them stronger. Dooku didn't know that his apprentice was the sister of someone who would become one of his greatest enemies, but when he realized he took the opportunity." he said. "I still don't get it..." I said. "Imagine how much chaos would come if the Chosen One found out that a)he had a sibling that was on the dark side, b) he had killed that sibling or c) that the sibling was going to kill him. And vise versa." he said.

I looked up at that. "Vise versa?" I said, sounding concerned. "I've felt her in the force, she's very strong. And, if she's Anakin's sister _she _might be the Chosen One... or there might even be _two_!" "The Skywalker twins... the Chosen Ones..." I said, my voice distant.

"And on top of that she's got Senator Amidala." Obi-Wan said with a sigh. "Shouldn't we contact him?" I asked, sitting up. "And what would we tell him? He'd be there by now and we can't just call him and tell him to come back. He'd ask why. No. We need to get the senator, get Anakin and leave as fast as we can. We can tell him in a... controlled environment." he said. "_Controlled _environment? I say we drop him in front of a fully-fledged Separatist army and watch him reduce them to scrap metal in two minutes flat." I said. Obi-Wan smiled. At least he still had his sense of humor.

Anakin's POV

I had just got out of hyperspace and when I saw the cruiser Padmé was on, I was suddenly very glad I was in a Separatist ship. It had plenty of codes and I managed to convince the droids I was a Separatist.

I docked at one of the emergency airlocks and hoped the droids would forget that I told them I was shipping supplies, which for droids was mainly weapons and spare parts.

Cruisers were almost all built the same way, so I found my way to the prison block pretty quickly. I destroyed the droids that were guarding the cells and hid them. I used the force to find Padmé's cell, opened it and swept her into my arms.

"Oh, the things you do to get my attention." I said, smiling. I gently stroked her hair. "As much as I hate to break this up, we need to go soon. It won't be long before the droids figure out I'm not here to deliver supplies." I said. She smiled and nodded. We left the cells together and ran off in the direction of the ship.

Verity's POV

Someone was here. Someone who wasn't supposed to be here. I could feel it. I could feel _him. _In amongst it all I felt traces of happiness. Quickly, I stood up and ran from my quarters. Someone had freed Amidala. The _Chosen One _had freed Amidala. No one else, other than myself, was as strong with the force as he was.

I didn't know much about Anakin Skywalker, yet I always seemed connected with him, like I could feel him. I don't know why. All that I knew was the identity of his master, his padawan, the fact that he was the supposed Chosen One and that Amidala was a close friend of his.

Sometimes I felt something; a rush of anger, a wave of joy, and something in the back of my head said 'that's him'. Once Master Dooku was briefing me on a very important mission when I felt a massive wave of anger through the force. I practically yelled out 'It's him!', but said I was talking about someone involved in the mission.

I followed my feelings and ran towards the far end of the ship, knocking over any droids that stood in my way. I nearly barreled into Greivous and had to flip over him to avoid getting smacked in the face.

I came to a large open area in the middle of the ship and saw Skywalker and Amidala taking down a few droids on the other side. We were separated by a hundred metres of deadly fast trains carrying supplies and transporting droids.

I leaped onto a moving train and quickly ran and jumped onto the next set of tracks. I jumped on to the next train, narrowly missing getting run over. After a few more leaps I had made it to the last track.

Skywalker noticed me and shoved Padmé away, pointing down the hall and telling her something I couldn't hear.

I leaped up to him and he drew his lightsaber. I activated my twin blades and gracefully swept them around a bit. "Pleasure to meet you at last. My Master talks about you often. You have no idea how much he wants you dead." I said, toying with him. "Yeah? Well I kind of got the impression when he _cut my arm off!_" he yelled that last part, which was understandable.

"Well," I said softly, "I guess it's time to finish the job." I waved my arms around in a figure of eight, then twirled them around and thrust them down towards my sides. It was one of my favourite opening salutes.

He ran at me and swung his lightsaber hard into mine. I crossed my blades to block and jumped as attempted to knock me off my feet. I whirled my blades parallel to my body as fast as I could. His blade quickly slashed at one then the other.

I span around, driving force into my left hand and blocking his return blow with my right. He attacked from all directions at alarming speed but I blocked them and managed to kick him in the stomach. I came at him both hands out but he ducked under the blades and managed to grab both of my wrists, the blades still active. He thrust me around and managed to knock one of my lightsabers to the ground, and it deactivated.

I kicked his out of his hand but my lightsaber was knocked to the ground as well. I kneed him in the stomach and he released my hands, but managed to get his right hand around my throat. He squeezed so hard I thought my neck would break. I tried to moan but no sound came out. His robotic arm just squeezed tighter and tighter.

Now I was angry, and I felt a wave of power through me. Dooku had never taught me sith lightning; he had only said it comes with extreme skill and anger, but I could feel it now.

I released a wave of lightning from my fingertips and Skywalker cried out in pain. He fell to the ground and I collapsed, gasping for air. I was going to pass out, I couldn't fight. He stood up, his lightsaber glowing in his hand.

**Cliffhanger! What will Verity do? Will Anakin kill his own sister? I'll give you a heads up: The start of the next chapter will be Ahsoka's POV.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for any agonizing waits for this. I needed to define what was going to happen, and have been planning what will happen next so I can link the two. Anyway, here it is, hope you like it and please review, I need feedback! (It helps me work faster and better) **

**Chapter 6**

Ahsoka's POV

Obi-Wan and I sprinted towards in the direction of Anakin and Verity. We had run into Padmé and she told us where to go. She was safe in the ship.

We rounded another corner and saw Anakin, hesitantly advancing towards Verity, who was lying unmoving on the floor.

"Master!" I called out. He turned around, saw us and deactivated his lightsaber. "Anakin, we need to go, _now._ Senator Amidala is on the ship, now lets go." Obi-Wan said. "Wait, what?" Anakin said, looking confused. "What about Tyleen? We need to take her to prison."

"No, we don't." I said, and Obi-Wan nodded in agreement. "What is wrong with you two?" Anakin asked, quite seriously. "Anakin, it's just- she's..." Obi-Wan was interrupted by a long, low moan that came from Verity.

She sat up and gently rubbed her neck. "Blimey, some grip." she muttered, to no one in particular. She looked around, saw us and rubbed her eyes. She looked at us again, blinked twice and rubbed her eyes again. After seeing us for the third time she folded her arms, looked straight ahead and said "Damn."

We stared at her. "Oh, no, don't stop your conversation on my account. You were talking about me?" she said. "I think."

"Ahsoka, keep an eye on her. Obi-Wan, you can finish your explanation now." Anakin said. Obi-Wan looked away. "Go on, what is it? Why are you acting weird about her? She's destroyed two Republic bases, killed eight wookies, slaughtered over a hundred clones and when we get the chance to arrest her you say no. Why?" Anakin wasn't asking now, he was ordering.

Finally, I spoke up. "Because, knowing who she is, you wouldn't want to." "Well who the hell is she then?" he yelled, losing his patience. "Did Shmi ever talk to you about... any other family members?" Obi-Wan asked. "Like what?" Anakin asked, confused. "Like, I don't know... a... sister?" I said. "What's this got to do with..." Anakin's voice trailed off. He turned around and stared, wide eyed at Verity. "Excuse me? My parents were Zaya and Jaylen Tyleen. I was taken by Dooku the day after they died." Verity said, sounding annoyed.

"Oh yeah, and what happened to them?" I spat at her. "They were killed in a speeder accident." She replied. "And who told you that?" Obi-Wan said. "Doo-" she stopped mid sentence. "No." she whispered. "No." she said, louder this time. "No!" she screamed. She got up, grabbed her lightsabers and took a running leap onto a fast, moving, supply train.

We stared at her as she vanished into the distance. She activated her lightsabers and I could just make out her slicing up several droids. I couldn't say her reaction surprised me, being a sith and all.

Once she had disappeared from sight, I turned around to face Anakin, and started to worry. He was staring blankly at the area Verity had jumped onto the train.

"Master," I said to Obi-Wan. "We should go. Something tells me this ships not going to last." I glanced Anakin, indicating we needed to get him out of here. He nodded.

I led Anakin, towards the Twilight, following Obi-Wan. We entered the ship. "Thank god you're all right, I was so worried when-" Padmé stopped when she saw Anakin. She rushed over and sat him down on a seat. "Is he ok? What happened?" she asked.

"I think he's... in shock." Obi-Wan said. "What, why?" she asked. We told her all about Verity, her back story, ending with Anakin finding out and her realizing Dooku had killed the only family she ever knew.

"What are we going to do?" I asked. It had been the obvious, unspoken question from the start. "The Council... if they find out Verity is Anakin's sister... what will they do?" I finished. "They won't order us to kill her, it's not the Jedi way." Obi-Wan said. Surprisingly, Anakin spoke up. "They'll assign someone else to bring her in, won't they? I need to talk to her. The Council won't listen to me."

We were flying a safe distance away from the cruiser, waiting for something to happen. Obi-Wan wanted to see if she'd retaliated against the Separatists. When something did happen, or if nothing happened soon, I'd fly us to Coruscant.

Suddenly, near the center of the ship, we saw a bright explosion, followed by several more. I looked at Obi-Wan. He nodded, and I sent us in to hyperspace.

Padmé POV

I couldn't believe Anakin had a sister. Judging by the way he reacted, he obviously couldn't either. It was so weird to think I had a sister in law. A sister in law who had been trained by Count Dooku. A sister in law who had attacked me. A sister in law who had just blown up a Separatist cruiser.

I wasn't sure what Anakin was thinking, which is unusual. He had stayed silent since he told us his theory as to what the Jedi Council would do. That was also unusual. I couldn't figure out if he was happy, because he had a sister, sad, because she had kidnapped me, or guilty because he had strangled her.

"Anakin, I know this is hard but if you want the Council to let you find your sister you have to stay calm. Do that for me, ok?" I said. He smiled weakly and nodded.

We arrived at the Jedi Temple and reported to the Council. We had to tell them every inch of the story. After what seems like hours, the Council sent Ahsoka, Anakin and I outside.

Shortly after Obi-Wan exited and motioned for us to walk with him. "They're letting us find her." he said. Anakin looked up. "What, why? I mean, that's great and all, but why?" Anakin said. "You should have more faith in my skills as a negotiator." Obi-Wan replied. Anakin still looked unconvinced, but seemed to know that was all he was getting. "I'm going to get a drink." he said, and walked off.

Ahsoka and I instantly turned to Obi-Wan. "Well, why?" Ahsoka asked. Obi-Wan sighed. "The Council does not waste an opportunity, especially in war. They know how powerful Verity is, and they know she's mad at the Separatists. If she resumes attacking Republic or Neutral areas, they want us to bring her here, to lock her up. If she continues attacking the Separatists, they want us to... recruit her. It is against the Jedi Order to kill for revenge, so the Council wants us to, in a way, get her to join the Republic. So that she can fight for us and with us. Not as a Jedi but a mercenary with a lightsaber. Or two lightsabers in her case. They still of course want her to follow some basic Jedi rules." he said.

"Wow." said Ahsoka.  
"And we couldn't tell Anakin this, because?" I asked.  
"We can tell him that. They're relying on Anakin to get her to join us. What he can't know is that the Council is also using the situation to try to get him to let go of his attachments." Obi-Wan said.

"I can't believe they're using her like that."Ahsoka said. I nodded. "Ahsoka, why don't you show Padmé to your room; Barriss is away. I'll tell Anakin." he said. "Just one thing, Master Jedi," I said. "When and how are we going to find Verity?"  
"I think the best way is to wait until she makes a move, then we'll find her." he said, then turned and walked away.

**Good chapter, huh? I should warn you, Verity is gonna make her move very soon, so you better watch your back!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry it took so long to update. I personally blame homework, good fanfics which I've been reading and a weekend away. Anyway, time to find out how Verity get's the Jedi's attention! I would have included more names and details about the Citadel but can't be bothered to find out cos I've been busy lately. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

It had been about a day since finding out about Dooku killing my adoptive parents and me having a brother. I was handling it quite well, considering I was a young sith. It was however, amazing what blowing up a cruiser could do to calm a girl down.

I smirked at the thought. Greivous had escaped shortly after I did, but he didn't know I had been the one to blow up the ship. Nobody knows, aside from the three Jedi, the Senator and myself. Dooku hadn't contacted me recently, so I could only hope he wasn't suspicious.

The _Millennium Falcon _was in hyperspace. I needed to catch the attention of the Republic. The Jedi Order, to be precise. I knew this, they knew this. I knew what they wanted, they knew what I wanted. They wouldn't just let me onto Coruscant though; they needed proof, and if proof was what they wanted, proof was what they'd get.

I was headed towards a very... unique planet. It was nothing but rock and magma. On the surface was a deadly and nearly inescapable prison called the Citadel. It was designed specifically for any Jedi the Separatists caught, and was definitely not a nice place.

It was surrounded by traps, cliffs, high walls and lava. I had only been there once, about three years ago on a training mission. I had to escape to the exterior of the prison. I succeeded too. Just. The only other people to escape the Citadel was Kenobi, Anakin and his padawan along with a few clones. They came in on a rescue mission which didn't go so well. They had to freeze themselves in _carbonite_ to get past the life form detectors.

I decided to try a more obvious approach. As far as anyone knew, I was still a Separatist and second to Count Dooku. I had a lot of power. I contacted the leader at the prison and prepared the most terrifying gaze I could manage.

The second his eyes locked onto mine I could feel the fear rise in him. I could barely stop my self laughing at his terrified face.

"I'm coming for an inspection." I said darkly. "Count Dooku was not happy when those three Jedi escaped. He has ordered me to come and ensure you are still in control of our most valuable base."  
"Ah, yes, yes. We will prepare for your arrival." he said, in a most annoying accent. The transmission ended and I burst out laughing. He was terrified, and the look on his face was priceless!

I was nearly at the system, so I walked over to a small shelf near the wall and put my long black cloak on. _This _would scare him, and the more scared of me he was the better. It was flowing and hard to see much underneath. Perfect. I opened up a small box and removed five small bombs. They were flat on one side so that they would stick to things. I slipped two in each of the two hidden pockets on my cloak and the last one on my belt at the back. I slipped on the matching wrist system that would activate the bombs.

My ship left hyperspace and I contacted the Separatist again to tell him I was preparing to land. He was waiting for me in the hangar, looking scared as ever. I pulled my hood over my head and began an evil looking, confident stride out towards him.

He went stiff and straightened up. "It is an honor to have you here at our base, Mistress Tyleen." he said, in what I'm sure was the most respectable voice he could muster.  
This would be fun. "You should know the feeling is not shared. Show me to the reactor room; I must check to see it is up to date. Any sudden power fluxes could result in escaping prisoners. And we wouldn't want that again, now would we?" I said coldly. "Ah, no, of course not. This way." he said, leading me down a brightly lit corridor. "We currently have six prisoners here at the Citadel. The Jedi Knight Aayla Secura was captured on Felucia, along with five clones. She has failed to give us any useful information, and will be interrogated again shortly." he said that last bit with particular malice, the kind that made me sick. The situation however, could not be more perfect. I mean, sure, I felt sorry for Secura. I'd seen many Separatist torture devices and she would have gotten the worst of the worst, but if I saved her, the clone troopers _and _blew up the Citadel, there was no way the Republic could turn me down.

I nodded absentmindedly and followed him up to a railing looking down over a large reactor. "This is the main reactor. It supplies all the power for the base. Take as long as you want inspecting it. I'm pretty sure it's fine though." he said. _Not for long,_ I thought. Suddenly his hologram beeped. "Please excuse me." he said, and walked over to the other side of the room facing the wall. I watched the image of a droid appear and quickly wasted no time in removing the four bombs from my pockets.

I dropped them all over the edge of the railing at once, and used the force to move them into separated, hidden places. I quickly dropped my hand and stared at the reactor as he came back over to me.

"Everything _seems_ to be fine." I said, turning to him. "But before I leave, I would like to help you with your troublesome prisoners." I said.  
"Ah, yes. Do you have any requirements?" he asked, probably referring to torture devices. I however, had something different in mine. "Yes. Out of respect for the Jedi, I ask that all cameras and recording devices in the vicinity be shut down." I said. "Shut down? But-" he started.  
"Are you questioning me? If you are questioning me you are questioning Count Dooku, and the very rules by which sith live. Am I right in thinking that?" I yelled at him, looking as threatening as I possibly could. "No. Of course not. Never." he said quickly. I laughed. A cold, evil laugh.  
"Good then! And if I find you have not done _exactly _as I have said, let me assure you, you'll regret it." I said. He nodded vigorously.  
"Cells number 41 and 42-D." he said, pointing down another corridor, and then ran off to the control room.

I continued walking until I found the first cell. I scowled into the active security cameras outside of the cell, raised my hand and crushed them with the force, indicating I wanted them down too. He was probably too scared to be suspicious.

I opened and walked into the first cell. The clones were in binders and sat against the walls and looked up as I approached. I knew they wouldn't trust me, so I decided to take them to Secura's cell so that she could tell them my intentions were good. "Up. Get outside." I said. The clones saw my lightsabers and did as they were told. I saw a lightsaber hanging up outside the Jedi's cell and took it with me.

I opened Secura's cell and motioned them inside. I shut the door behind us. Secura was strung up in a blue field generated from a small orb at the ground. Small amounts of electricity crackled from the binders at her ankles and wrists. She hung limply.

I deactivated the field and caught her as her limp body fell to the ground. I gently laid her down and motioned for the clones to turn around. They tilted their heads in confusion. "How am I meant to unbind you if you're facing me?" I said. The clones, still slightly suspicious, turned around and I used the force to snap off all their binders at once. I returned to Secura.

"Who are you? You look familiar..." she said softly. I wasn't sure if she recognized me from recordings of me blowing up bases or just because I looked like my brother. "That doesn't matter right now." I said, helping her up. "Listen, all of you. I am not Republic, I am not Separatist. _Definitely _not Separatist. For my own reasons, I am destroying this base. I am not destroying this base with innocent troops and a Jedi in it. The Separatists trust me, but will soon be suspicious, so if you want out, you need to hurry up and follow me." I said, indicating to the door.

"Can we trust her general?" one of the clones with yellow-green paint on their armor said. Secura's brow furrowed. "Yes Bly, I believe we can." she said. I threw her her lightsaber.

"Good. My ship's not far. The surrounding cameras are down but we need to be quick. As soon as we leave this corridor they'll be able to see us." I said.  
"Okay, let's go." Secura said. The clone she called Bly walked over to help her.  
"Are you able to run?" I asked. She nodded.

I walked out of the door and motioned for them to follow. I started to run down the corridor and waited when I reached the end. The others caught up quickly. I nodded and sprinted down the next corridor with the others. Almost immediately we ran into some droids. "Keep going!" I yelled, sending a force blast into the droids in our way.

I sensed something around the corner and activated my lightsabers. I saw the shocked look on Secura's face and she stopped running. "Look, there's no time to explain now, but I'm not going to kill you!" I said. She nodded, knowing I wasn't lying. Either way, she must of been _very_ eager to get out of there to follow a sith.  
"Come on." she said.

We rounded the corner and were faced with six commando droids. I lunged at them and quickly reduced them to scrap metal. We reached the hangar and sprinted onto my ship. I sealed the ramp that lead up to it and saw tons of droids running over. I smiled and moved my coat sleeve up, revealing the wrist control set to the bombs. "Night." I said, and pressed the button. Almost instantly the ship rocked violently. The bombs had definitely worked, and this base would be gone soon.

I sprinted up to the controls and flew the Millennium Falcon out of the hangar, getting as far away as possible. I could sense the explosion ripping through the air. Thank god I had this ship. The guy who sold it to me boasted it was the fastest piece of junk in the galaxy. Maybe it just was.

We left the atmosphere and I quickly set coordinates for Coruscant. I pulled down the handle and we shot off into hyperspace. I took a deep breath and turned around, knowing I had a lot of explaining to do.

**Please review! I'm dying for comments here. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for any delay with this chapter guys! I've had tons of assignments. Anywayz, enjoy! **

**Chapter 8**

Verity's POV

I had told Secura and the clones practically my whole story before we came out of hyperspace. They weren't going to let it go, that was for sure. I left out a few of the details involving sith lightning and a certain girly senator, but other than that they knew it all.

Secura was of course now very weary and contacted the Jedi Council. They agreed to me seeing them, as I knew they would, but I was still not certain they'd agree to my terms: I would not be a proper part of the Republic but would help them as a sought of mercenary, that I'd be payed enough credits to support myself when not on a mission and most importantly, that I'm sent to kill Dooku when he's found. I'm not sure how they'd react to the last one; killing for revenge wasn't the Jedi way, but they couldn't leave him alive, that was for sure.

I brought the ship down onto a landing platform where Kenobi and Anakin were waiting for me with several armed clones. "Well well, if it isn't my favourite brother." I said, walking down the ramp. He smiled and walked up to me. "Good luck trying to get the Council to let you in. Obi-Wan's on it, and I'm sure he'll help you. Isn't that right _Obi-Wan?" _he said, calling to Obi-Wan, who was helping Secura. "Hmm?" he replied.

Anakin rolled his eyes. "So I take it your on my side." I said.  
"I'd be too scared to go against my sister." he said, putting out his hand.  
"What? How dangerous and untrustworthy do they think I am?" I said, handing him my lightsabers. He gave me a look. "Point taken." I said. A clone came over and fixed a pair of force-binders around my wrists. We walked over towards a transport and got on.

When we reached the Jedi Temple, the clones walked off to see some of their friends except for two who helped Secura to the med bay. The others were no doubt spreading the story of Anakin Skywalker's sith sister.

"Okay, we've already told the Council everything we know about you. _Everything. _So far, they're not impressed. You'll have to make up for it with your skills and Separatist knowledge." Anakin said as I followed him and Obi-Wan through the Temple, getting strange looks from passers-by.

We stopped outside what I guessed was the Council door. We entered to find the Council silently discussing something, but all became quiet when I stepped in to the room. Obi-Wan took his seat in the Council and Anakin stood behind me.

I always thought the members of the Jedi Council were stuck-up old posers who thought they knew what was best for everything. Judging by the look of them and the way they were staring at me, that pretty much summed them right up.

A few of them may have been alright, but the cold, serious atmosphere in the room eliminated any chance of a friendly chat.

"I'm sure you realize how serious this situation is, Miss Skywalker." some guy said. He was bald and had dark skin. I think his name was Window, or something.

"So let us get straight to the point." I said. "I want Dooku dead. You know why, and I know it's not the Jedi way. But I also now you can't keep him alive. I want to join you on missions against the Separatists. Not as Jedi, but merely a mercenary. I want substantial pay to support myself when I'm not on missions and want to be informed every time something happens with Dooku." I said.

The guy and Master Yoda (who doesn't know him?) exchanged a look. "In exchange for...?" he said.  
"My services in any missions and all the Separatist information I've got. You know you need it, and you know you need me." they couldn't deny that, that was for sure.

"You destroyed two very important Republic bases, murdered eight wookies and attacked a Galactic Senator." the guy pressed.

"Yes, I did." I replied. "Then I blew up a cruiser, saved five clone troopers, a Jedi Knight, and destroyed one of the Separatists' most important bases and one of the most terrifying places in all the galaxy. I would know." I replied. I could tell the Jedi, especially Anakin, felt quite disturbed by the fact that I had been tortured in the Citadel even though I was a Separatist. I was caught and tortured three times before I escaped. "I know the Jedi want to end this war and bring peace to the galaxy. To do that before Dooku destroys some other innocent's life, you'll need my help."

"Discussed this, before you arrived, we did. " said Yoda. Why he talks like that, I will never know. "The truth you speak, and right you are. To end this war, all the help we can get, we will need." I nodded, a little too eagerly. "Join the Republic you will, but under the command of Master Kenobi you will be. Watch over you he will." I glanced at Obi-Wan.

Okay, so the Council would be keeping a close eye on me. A _very _close eye, but I got my way so that was okay.

"For your own protection your name will remain Verity Tyleen, and you are not to tell anyone outside of the Jedi and clones that you are Anakin's sister." the Window guy said. I nodded. "Master Kenobi, if you would show her around the Temple. I trust you will wish to stay on your ship, Miss Tyleen?" he said. I nodded again.

Obi-Wan got up, un-cuffed me and started walking towards the door. I held up my hand to stop him. "Just a moment." I said. I walked over to Anakin and retrieved my lightsabers. Had I not been in a room of force-sensitives they'd probably have thought I was going to attack them.

I walked over to Window and gave him the lightsabers. "Force crystals. Blue. We wouldn't want anyone thinking I was a Sith again, would we?" I said. He nodded. "Thank you Master...?"  
"Windu." he finished. Windu, Window, close enough.

I followed Obi-Wan through the doors and Anakin was about to follow when Yoda told him to stay for a little longer.

Anakin's POV

I closed the door and walked back to the center of the Council chamber. "Yes Master?" I said. I was still struggling to believe that they'd let her in. "Your sister, dark she is. Listen to Obi-Wan, she may not. Listen to you, she will. Watch her, you will." Master Yoda said, pointing his stick at me for emphasis.

Plo-Koon spoke up. "This girl is used to a much more strict and violent life. The change will make her more likely to rebel."  
"I'll keep and eye on her Masters." I said. I bowed and left the room.

Verity's POV

After I was shown around the Temple, I told Obi-Wan I wanted to get some new clothes. My old ones were torn and covered in blood, so he didn't object. Not really his best topic, nor mine, but someone had to watch me, regardless of whether the Jedi knew I was going to try something or not. He sent Anakin's padawan Ahsoka with me. I got some credits from my ship and we took a speeder to a street full of clothing shops.

She kept on going on and on about what clothes I should get. I rolled my eyes. We went inside a shop selling stuff all in black. "Are you Goth or something?" she asked, looking at me as a sifted through a rack of black pants.  
"No. I just like the colour. It's not outrageous and can look pretty cool." I replied, selecting a pair of skinny pants.

I moved over to the tops section and Ahsoka held up a really skimpy black top with cuts in all the wrong places. "Ahsoka, no." I said. I picked up a sleeveless turtleneck top. It was black and zip up. I grabbed a strapless black top to wear underneath and kept my boots.

I tried them on and went out to show Ahsoka. Some guy on the other side of the shop grinned and whistled. "Perfect." she said with a smile.  
"One more thing." I said, pulling out the bands in my hair. I tied it all back into a ponytail in the center back of my head.

"Done." I said. I payed the guy at the counter and we went back to the Temple.

We went inside and Anakin jogged up to us. "Got something for you." he said to me, and handed me my lightsabers. "Already? Yes!" I said, activating them to see two brilliant blue blades. "Thanks."  
"No prob. The Council must really want you to start missions soon." he said. I nodded.

"Hey, can we do some dueling?" Ahsoka asked us. "I'd like to see how you use your lightsabers." she said, patting her blades.

I smirked at Anakin. "Up for the challenge?" I asked.  
"Says the girl who I beat when we first dueled." he replied.  
"I was being strangled by your freakishly strong robotic arm!" I said.  
"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that." he said, scratching the back of his neck.

I grinned, and followed the two off towards the dueling room.

**Wal-luh! I hope you liked it. I'll try and do the next chapter soon, kay? I'm dying for reviews so, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, I've been away and thought I'd updated more than I had. To answer some questions in the comments, Verity is not based on Ventress, but I did model the master-apprentice relationship on them a bit. The only reason Verity has two lightsabers is cos I think it's cool. I also considered giving her a Darth title, but decided not to because Ventress doesn't have one and like I said, I modeled it on her and Dooku's master-apprentice relationship. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Chapter 9**

Anakin's POV

Verity, Ahsoka and I entered the dueling room and lowered our lightsaber power in case someone got hit.

"You two first." Ahsoka said, leaning against the wall. Well, I guess it _would _be an interesting fight.__

We took our positions on the dueling mat and activated our lightsabers. We did an opening salute each, then I lunged in towards her. She blocked with her left blade and began attacking with her right, forcing me back.

Suddenly she jumped up, with her lightsabers crossed , and like she was going to flip but straightened out like she was going to do a handstand on my head. I moved my lightsaber above my head and held it horizontally.

She landed upside down on her lightsabers which were against mine, her legs up in the air. She used the momentum to flip her legs over her head, land, spin around and slash me in the thigh. Had she not used the force to keep her 'bounce' off me light, I probably would have taken my own lightsaber to the head.

"Hah! I win." she said confidently. I felt where the blade hit me and could only feel a numbing sensation because of the low power level. I was a little more preoccupied by the last move.

Ahsoka was staring, wide eyed and with her mouth hanging open at Verity, who began walking towards her. "You _have _to teach me that move!" she said. Verity laughed.  
"Like it? It's my signature move. Made it up myself." she told Ahsoka, then turned to me.

"What?" she asked.  
" How...how... did you do that?" I stuttered.  
"Skill, training, and a whole lot of sith lightning." she replied.  
"But I thought you said you'd only did sith lightning when you were dueling me, that it was your first time." I said.

"_I _didn't do the sith lightning." she said. Ahsoka, who hadn't been at the Council meeting and was a teensy bit naive, turned around, looking shocked. "Dooku used sith lightning on _you_?" she said. Verity nodded.  
"That's the way of the dark side. They don't forgive, and never will." Verity shrugged.

I cut in before things got too awkward. "Ahsoka, before I forget, don't tell anyone that Verity and I are siblings." I said.

"Why not?" she asked.  
"Because the Council doesn't want anyone using us against each other." I replied. Ahsoka shrugged. "Okay, but Rex, Broadside and Cody already know."  
"Never mind them. Now come on, you need to keep training." I said. Ahsoka nodded and walked to the far end of the dueling mat.

"Have fun Skyguy." Verity said to me. I gave her a look. "Ahsoka told me when she took me on that death trip." she said.  
"Will do, _Skygirl._" I replied. She grinned and left, probably heading back to her ship. The Council said she could go through the temple on her own, but it was when she left the temple that they got a bit on-edge.

I walked back over to Ahsoka and we began dueling.

Verity's POV

I wandered through the Temple until I found the hangar. I entered my ship and walked into my cabin, the one without the blood from Amidala's attack on the floor, and flopped down on the bed.

For the next few days I had to study clone attack formations and the Jedi Temple. The Council could tell I wasn't just going to take the info and run, so they wanted me to know as much as possible, mainly about the Jedi Code, before they shipped me off to the front lines.

They must be pretty desperate. I know the battle on Kamino cost them many clones and resources they needed. Admittedly, I formulated the plan of how to get the aqua droids onto the planet, but I'm not planning on telling anyone here that. Greivous and some bounty-hunter were sent onto the planet's surface because I was away trying to escape the Citadel. The bounty-hunter was caught by Anakin and put in prison.

I turned over and tried to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long, boring day.

Dooku's POV

It did not take long for the news of my old apprentice's betrayal to reach me. Destroying the Citadel was bad enough, but now I was getting reports of her ship flying to Coruscant, suggesting she is dealing with the Republic and most likely, given the situation with her brother, the Jedi.

Admittedly, her loss was great and slightly worrying. I would have to solve that problem very soon.

I was on my way to Dathomir, home of the Nightsisters. The leader, Mother Talzin, had agreed to aid me in my search for a new apprentice, returning the favor, as I helped her long ago. I had contacted her and explained my predicament. She said she would send one of the sisters to select a suitable candidate. A Dathomiry male with strength and skill who could oppose, or at least stand a chance, against Verity.

I landed my Solar Sailor in front of a small temple. Several Nightsisters approached, weilding daggers and energy bows. Mother Talzin walked among them, along with a very tall, muscular Zabrak with yellow and black tattoos, wearing armor and holding a long, axe-like weapon.

"Count Dooku." Mother Talzin said.  
"Mother Talzin." I said. "Your warriors are very impressive. We could use such powerful members in the Separatist alliance." I said.  
"An interesting offer Count, but our only allegiance is to each other. After today, I hope out paths never cross again." she said.  
"As you wish, Sister." I replied.

Mother Talzin turned to the Zabrak. "Savage Opress." she said, motioning to him with her hands. "We selected him as your apprentice." she said. "I trust you are pleased?"  
"Yes. He is perfect." I said, circling him. The one advantage anyone who was untrained could have against Verity was utter brute strength. Opress looked like he had the strength to, if she was unconscious or immobilized, throw Verity a good hundred meters.

"Thank you, Mother Talzin. I shall take him." I said, and began walking back to my ship, Savage behind me.

I'd have to test him first, then I would begin proper training. I set coordinates for my base and tried to find out as much about Savage as I could.

**Hope it wasn't too short. By the way, I'm going to keep the Dooku/Savage training description very limited and short because I don't want to repeat too much of series 3. Anyway, I'll update soon. Please review! **


	10. Chapter 10

**First off, I'd like to apologize for leaving you so long with a not-so-interesting chapter with so long. I hope this next one will do better and I promise I'll update soon. **

**Chapter 10**

Verity's POV

It had been a week since my duel with Anakin. One week. One long, boring week studying the Jedi, clones and giving out Seppie info. But finally, I got put on a mission. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and I are being sent with a bunch of clones to Christophsis. The Separatists launched a massive invasion to take the planet. Apparently they really want to get a hold of the place. I know it's not their first attack there.

I got dressed and went to meet the others in the war room. Obi-Wan was already there. "So, what's the plan?" I asked, after a few seconds of awkward silence. Obi-Wan brought up a holo-map of a city area on Christophsis.

"The capital?" I asked.  
"Yes. The droids are concentrated around this area. We've learned there is a rather large and important base or command center in the middle of it all. We will split into three groups. Anakin and Ahsoka will take half of the clones and try the direct assault. I will take the rest and attack from behind. This should make a nice distraction for you." he said.

"And I will...?"  
"You are to sneak inside and destroy the building. Nothing you can't handle, I'm sure?" he asked.  
"General Kenobi," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder and looking him in the eye. "blowing up bases, is my specialty."

He smiled. Anakin and Ahsoka walked in and we explained the plan.

_Later_

There were about 10 gunships full of clones, armed and itching for a fight. Half of the ships had already arrived at the back of the base with Obi-Wan. I stood with several clones, Anakin and Ahsoka in one of the others. They were dropping me off on their way to the main entrance.

"General Tyleen. We are nearing your designated landing zone. Shall we start our descent?" the pilot in the cockpit asked.  
"Don't bother." I replied. "I'll get off here, if you know what I mean trooper." I looked at Anakin and grinned as the blast doors began to open. "Yes General." the clone said.

"You think you'll be able to handle that base on your own?" Anakin asked.  
"You should know by now, I love blowing up bases. It's what I do." I said. I gave a mock salute with two of my fingers. "Later." I said, and back flipped out of the ship.

I closed my mouth the second my feet left the ground. When I "finished" my flip, I was face down and about 400m above the ground. I tucked my arms to my side and kept my legs together, bending them at a slight angle. About 75m from the ground I used the force to slow my descent. I could see droids moving crates and marching around aimlessly.

I landed behind a large metal supply crate and took a deep breath. Though I only had my mouth closed and stopped breathing through my nose for a short time, the lack of oxygen had made me a bit dizzy.

I peered around the side of the crate and saw about fifty battle droids moving around, shifting things and making attempts to repair vehicles and weapons that failed epically. Despite the attack that had surely begun, there were always a few droids kept out of the action. I didn't think it made much difference. I was in a village on a mission once. One of the droid's gun wasn't working, and I saw an unarmed girl, no more than three years old, push it over. Take it down. That's how sad the Separatist army is.

Back to the task at hand: I knew this drill. If they learned I was here, the mission was over. I needed a distraction. Something that didn't look too unusual, but would draw all attention from me.

I looked around and saw a droid manning a crane, moving one of big metal crates with it. It was a supply crate. And the only supplies droids needed was power, weapons and quite often, explosives. The drop wouldn't be very high, so it was unlikely there would be a _huge_ explosion. There might not be one at all. Even if the thing didn't blow up, it would make a pretty good distraction.

I had two options: destroy the chains holding the crate, or make the droid 'accidentally' press the release button on the crane. The Separatist equipment was pretty good, unlike the droids, so I decided to make the droid make 'a little mistake'.

I moved around so that I was still hidden but could easily see the crane controls. I lifted my hand, moved it to the side and pulled it down. I saw the droid press the button and dived behind the other crates as cover. I heard the explosion and saw smoke, embers, and a bit of debris flying over the top of the crate. I smiled at the panicked voices of the remaining droids.

I peered around the edge of the now half destroyed crate to make sure there were no droids looking my way. I ran to the base entrance, which was wide open because a droid had been walking through. It now lay in pieces about thirty feet away.

I brought up a holo-map of the building the clones had managed to lay out, and turned down a corridor towards the main reactor. Only then did I sense it. The presence of hatred, arrogance and very annoying character. There was only one thing, in the _whole _galaxy that made me so annoyed and snappy. He was second to Dooku on my 'people and things I hate most' list. But why would Dooku send Greivous here? I guess he thought he'd lost _way_ too many battles on this planet already.

I could sense him walking down another corridor towards where I came in, probably to investigate the explosion. I grinned. Step 1: Destroy this base. Step 2: Do to Greivous what I wanted to do to him since I first met him. I stroked my lightsabers. This will definitely help my reputation.

I went to the reactor and set a few explosives I 'acquired' all around it and linked them up with a control on my wrist. I returned quickly to the entrance of the base. I took one step outside, just as Greivous turned around.

Droids began forming a large circle around Greivous and I. They knew he'd want this fight. If he lost, they'd shoot. Greivous was such a coward."Verity Tyleen." he said, then coughed. "Or should I call you Verity Skywalker?" he said, followed by another cough. I put my hand on my chin and tilted my head in thought. "Tyleen." I replied. "It's makes me sound more original."

"Scum." he said. He raised his arms and I watched as they split in two, then he drew his 4 lightsabers.  
"Sounds like you've been waiting a long time for this. Believe me, I've waited longer." I said, taking out my twin blades in a cross-draw.

I grinned, then ran at him, and made a flying leap over his head...

Dooku's POV

The Nightsisters some how seemed to physically and mentally alter Savage. He was doing very, very well in training. Too well. Either way, no matter. All that mattered was that together we could defeat Verity, no question. For now, I would just carry on with his training. At this rate, I'll be sending him out on his first assignment in a few mere weeks.

**Not long now till I bring Savage in properly! Tune in next time, if you want to see what happens to Verity!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! Sorry for any delay. Day 1 of week 2 back at school and I already have an outrageous amount of assignments and work. Anyway, hope you enjoy. **

**Chapter Eleven**

Verity's POV

I landed a few metres away from Greivous and activated my comlink to Obi-Wan and Anakin. "Get your troops away now!" I yelled, then turned it off and ran for Greivous.

Our blades clashed. From the first blow I could feel his physical strength, but I'm strong with the force. Greivous can't even feel the force.

He swung his blades low, so I leaped up and did a back flip off his face, which was surprisingly sturdy under my weight. I could feel his anger and his thrill. He attacked again, I whirled and spun my blades alongside each other. He blocked them with two blades and began to attack with the other two. We continued like this for about a minute, only because I had to by Anakin and Obi-Wan some time. After about thirty more seconds, I got bored. Time to turn the tides.

I ran up to him and my two blades clashed with his four. I lifted two fingers from each of my lightsaber hilts and force pushed him to the ground, knocking his lightsabers out of his hands.

I crossed my blades on either side of his neck. "I. Win." I said.  
"But can you kill me, and save yourself?" he asked, and motioned to the droids that surrounded us. Knew it. Normally I would destroy them all, but in this case that would mean I'd have to kill Greivous, detonate the bombs, run away from the exploding building and defend myself all at the same time. Not terribly great odds.

I deactivated my lightsabers and returned them to my belt. Greivous stood up, retrieved his lightsabers and walked back to admire the view of me surrendering. "Any last words?" he asked, in what I guessed was supposed to be a sinister voice. I tilted my head.  
"Now that I think about, yeah, there is one thing I'd like to say." I told him.  
"And that would be...?" he said. I raised my left in front of me, like I was going to speak into my comlink. "Burn in hell." I slammed my hand down on the detonation button and instantly the ground shook.

Everyone turned to stare at the base. General Greivous turned to look at me. I flashed him a quick smirk and sprinted off in the other direction, using the force to blast through a bunch of slow-reacting droids as a ran. I heard him roar behind me, as he began sprinting off as well. One thought was going through my mind: get out of here, get out of here.

I felt the ground shake again and knew the explosion had carried on past the base. It flung me up into the air and slammed me into the side of another one of those metal crates. I landed on my back and rolled along the ground until I hit something else. I saw stars, and knew I had broken something. My vision returned just long enough to see several huge pieces of metal debris flying towards me...

Anakin's POV

The base exploded in a cloud of fire and debris. Ahsoka and I had gotten all of the surviving troopers far away from the explosion, and it took out all the droids I could see. We cheered as we saw a pretty banged up, scorched droid fly out of the smoke and land about a hundred metres away from us.

I laughed. "She sure knows her stuff." I said to Ahsoka, who laughed as well. Verity was supposed to set some explosives and head towards Obi-Wan, then destroy the base from a safe distance. I contacted Obi-Wan. I wanted him to describe what she was doing before congratulating her, so I could find out if she was as cocky or sarcastic as me.

"Hey Obi-Wan, how's little miss destruction doing?" I asked.  
"Actually, she hasn't turned up yet. She may be working her way around some debris." he replied. I could just picture him stroking his beard. "I'll contact her." I told him, and ended the transmission, then contacted Verity.

"How ya doing sis?" I asked, but only got static from the receiver. I tried again, and when there was no answer, I started to get worried. Ahsoka walked over, seeing the frustrated look on my face. "What is it?" she asked.  
"I think Verity might be hurt. She seemed really rushed when she told us to evacuate the troops, and I'm not getting any signal from her." I said.  
"Let me try mine." she said, and tried to call Verity. After a few seconds of static, she shook her head. "You worry too much. Her comm's probably just damaged. She'll turn up soon." she said.

Twenty minutes passed. Half and hour. Fifty minutes and the only news was that Obi-Wan was busy taking care of some remaining droids. Too long. Too little. "Ahsoka!" I called, and watched her walk over, a look of worry on her face. "Stay here, take charge if there's an attack. I need to find Verity." I told her. She nodded.  
"You'll find her master." she said. I had no doubt I'd find her. I wouldn't stop looking until I did. I was only worried about what condition she'd be in when I finally did...

I dragged a small, fold-out speeder from one of the supply ships and headed towards Verity's landing zone, where she was to enter the base.

The place was a wreck. Debris was everywhere, still burning. Smoke billowed out from red-hot chunks of it. I shut my eyes, and tried to sense a source of life. Nothing. I shut my eyes again, but this time I was angry. I focused on my anger and found it. It wasn't much, but it was still there. I flooded with hope, and ran to the source of it, avoiding various chunks of metal as I went.

I eventually reached a large pile up of debris, and started using the force to rip bits of it away, not even flinching at the significantly heavier pieces.

Then I saw it. A hand. _Her_ hand. Blood trickled in a small stream from further up her arm. I ripped more of the metal away. I saw the deep gash in her arm. I tried more at the area closest to me. Her boots. With one final pull, the rest of the metal came away, and I recoiled in shock.

Her right leg was twisted at and unnatural angle and a piece of sharp, jagged metal was sticking out of her left. Her right arm had a deep gash and I could see another, smaller, piece of metal deeper in the wound. There was a slash on one side of her waist and a cut along her forehead that had coated her face with blood. Her body was mass of cuts and burns.

I dropped to my knees and desperately felt around her neck to find a pulse. "Thank god." I whispered, as I felt a slow, but steady beat. I contacted Ahsoka. "Ahsoka! I need a medic _now_. Verity is verybadlyinjured and I-, I don't know how long she's got." I tried my best to hide the crack in my voice. I sent her my coordinates.

I was worried. I was scared. I'd just got a sister, my last living relative. I wasn't going to lose her so soon. Suddenly, I heard a low moan from Verity. I silently begged for her to stay unconscious, lest she have to feel the pain of her injuries. It was in vain.

She tried to lift her head up but cried out and dropped it again. "It'll be ok." I said, gently stroking her head and avoiding brushing over any injuries.

I then remembered holding my mum like this, begging for her to stay with me. Those _things_, those _animals_, killed her. I suddenly felt sick. The memories came flooding back and I remembered the hatred I felt as I slaughtered so many Tusken Raiders in my anger.

_No, _I thought to myself. _Never again. That will never, _ever _happen again._

"Anakin?" the whisper was so soft and so weak I barely heard it.  
"I'm right here." I said softly, putting on the best comforting smile I could. Supportive yet tragic and worried. 

She moaned. "I hate Separatists. They're so thick they let me blow up their base!" she said in a tired voice. I let out a small laugh. She hadn't changed, and she'd be ok.

"Hey Skyguy." she said, blinking her eyes open.  
"Yeah?"  
"When are the clones gonna get here? My leg is _killing _me."

As if on cue, several clones on speeders rounded a pile of scrap metal, led by Ahsoka. They got down and sprang into action, wrapping bandages and adding small amounts of bacta to her skin. Ahsoka contacted a gunship to take us to the orbiting cruiser, which would take us back to Coruscant where Verity's injuries could be treated properly.

About an hour later, Ahsoka and I watched as Verity's body was slipped into a bacta tank. We were in the Temple Infirmary, waiting for the clone medic to tell us how bad her injuries were.

Finally, the droid came over. "She will need to remain in the tank for two days at least. Her right leg was smashed in the explosion and some of the gashes were quite severe. After that, she'll need a few days rest to regain her strength." the clone said.

I nodded. "Thank you." and we walked off to report to the Council.

Dooku's POV

Savage was ready. He had passed all of his tests with outstanding results. In one of them, he even killed a Jedi Master and his padawan. Even I could hardly contain my excitement about the obvious upcoming battle between the old master and the old apprentice. That is, now that I was certain she'd die.

I would have to make Verity, and preferably Verity only, come to me. Word had reached me that she'd been badly injured in an explosion on Christophsis which claimed our valuable base and nearly destroyed General Greivous. She wouldn't be out on another mission for a few days.

_But_... her brother would. I grin spread across my face. I hated that boy. So good yet so evil at the same time. He was easily angered, it made mocking him _so_ fun. I tilted my head in thought. What would be the easiest way to trap him...

**Next chapter will exciting, I can promise you that. It may be slightly long too, I don't know. Anyway, please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I am SO sorry for the wait; I've had tons of assignments. This chapter may be a bit long. Anyway, it doesn't have all the stuff I hoped for, because I was up to page 5 and hadn't even gotten half of the things I wanted in it written. Anyway, this chapter was split from the next one and I promise to update soon!  
I'd like to thank 2011 Bruins, AhsokaGeekFreak, AhsokaGeek, Lizwiese5, ACEamazombie, Epictime lady TWright, Tessika14, KateKenobi and AhsokaTano141516 for reviewing, it means a lot to me. I'd especially like to thank Jedihunter34, purplewillowtrees and Rachel Uchiha for favoriting me or Dark Sister. Thanks guys! **

**Chapter 12**

Cato Parasitti's POV

I strode the halls of the Senate with confidence. Nodding and smiling to anyone who called my name. Or at least, the name of the person I had become. Pretending not to be cautious had been a hard skill to master, but it was essential for a shape shifting bounty hunter, such as myself.

None of the Senators knew that Senator Riyo Chuchi of Pantora had been called home for private reasons. In this case, the 'unexpected' death of a close relative.

I continued walking down the halls, admiring the architecture. I finally stopped in front of a door and called inside. "Padmé! It's Riyo, may I come in?" I asked.

"Of course." the door opened, revealing Senator Amidala, my main target. Her hair was up in some sort of metal headdress that made her look like she had a side fringe. Her dress was long and a pale green/yellow colour. She was obviously _very _serious when it came to fashion. She was drinking from an elegant wine glass.

"Riyo!" she said, putting down her drink and giving me a quick hug. "How have you been?" she asked.  
"Quite well." I said. "How are you?"  
"I've been working on persuasive speech to present to the Senate about the amount of money being spent on clones and weaponry. It's exhausting, but I have a feeling it'll be worth it."  
It took me every ounce of my will and body power to stop my eyes from rolling. Instead, I nodded. "The strain of democracy." I said. Amidala picked up her drink again and took a delicate sip. "So, was there anything you wanted to ask me?"

"Yes, now that you mention it. Padmé, we haven't seen each other in ages. Would you like to come and have dinner with me tonight? We could catch up. You know, I don't know what's up with you or your family, how you're going. I don't even know if you have a boyfriend!" I said, and was surprised when she began choking on her drink. What did I say?

"Oh, no. No boys for me, not ever." she said quickly. "You're right Riyo. We really should catch up."  
"Well, in that case, I'll come around later and take you to my favourite restaurant downtown. We can chat, and gossip, just as friends should be able to do." I said, despising the words that came out of my mouth.

"Ok." she said. I nodded.  
"If you excuse me Padmé, I have to go and meet the Chairman. He said he'd like to talk to me about Pantora's security."  
"Yes, of course." she said. I smiled and left the room.

Obi-Wan's POV

Verity had been in the bacta tank for three days. I watched as her eyes gently fluttered open. She blinked as the bacta came into contact with them. She floated to the top of the tank and Anakin used the force to lift her down. She wobbled and nearly fell as her feet touched the ground. She supported herself on a railing near the tank and a clone handed her a dressing gown. She thanked him. He said she needed to rest and offered her a seat, which she practically fell into. We stood there for a few minutes as Verity caught her breath, probably registering her surroundings and what had happened.

"You all right there sis?" Anakin asked, eventually. Verity sighed and dropped her head back.  
"For a girl who spent- wait, how long was I in there for?"  
"About three days." Ahsoka answered.  
"Well, for a girl who spent the last three days unconscious in a bacta tank doing absolutely nothing, exhausted." she said wearily.

"Good to have you back Verity." I said. She smiled and thanked me.  
"So. Did we win? If we didn't, and that means I got this banged up for nothing, I am _so_ demanding a rematch. " she told us in a really convincing voice. Anakin laughed.  
"Don't worry, we won." he assured her. Verity grinned. Suddenly, her head fell back and her body went slack. We all jumped up.

"Not to worry," the clone said, running over to reassure us. "her body is just getting used to managing itself again, instead of having a life support system do it for her. She'll probably be out for about an hour." he said. We let out a sigh of relief.

Anakin picked Verity up and placed her gently under the covers of a nearby med-bay bed.  
"Well, we should let Verity rest." I said, and we all left the room.

Cato Parasitti's POV

It seemed like mere minutes ago that I had been relaxing in my apartment, watching gruesome movies and shooting any droids I could see from my bedroom window. I had been dreading the meeting with Amidala all day. Never mind, It would all be over in a few minutes.

We had taken a speeder to a busy street, and I told Amidala the restaurant was about two blocks away.

Eventually I began leading her down a narrow alley, where there were no passers-by to see us.  
"Riyo, are you sure the restaurant is this way?" she asked as I turned another corner, deeper, deeper in to the Coruscant underworld. I glanced back at her. She was wearing that ridiculous wig thing that made her look like she had giant mouse ears and a blue and greenish robe thingy.

I stopped walking and looked around, pretending to check where we were, and let her catch up to me. She was right behind me when a spun around, punching her viciously in the face. She was knocked backwards and hit the ground hard. I ran up and kicked her before she could react. I pulled out my gun, which was set to stun, and shot her. She stopped wriggling instantly.

I punched and kicked her a bit more. I had to bloody her up, he had said.

Dooku's plan made no sense to me. He told me I needed to discreetly get Amidala to this exact spot, knock her out and beat her up so she looked injured. Then, I had to tie her up and hide her somewhere along this street, putting a tracking beacon on her. I had to shape shift into her and make my way to a rendezvous with a Separatist space station, where Dooku had said something about me doing some acting on a holo-recording.

All the other bounty-hunters said never to trust Count Dooku. He'd get what he wanted then kill you. True. But I'm the exception. You don't get many mercenary changelings these days. If he ever needed me for another job, I'd be gone and he'd be in trouble.

I hid Amidala behind a few crates, cuffing her to a pipe and put a gag and the tracking device on her. Then, before putting another crate on top of the mini pile I had made up around her, I placed my hand on her skin. In mere seconds I was no longer Riyo Chuchi. I was Padmé Amidala. I stretched and sighed. There was nothing like a good shape shift. I couldn't feel the cuts and bruises that covered this body. I grinned and placed the last crate around Amidala, sealing her off from the world.

I pulled out a long robe I had hidden in my bag and slipped it on, so no one would see me and think 'Oh no! Senator Amidala has been injured!'.

I walked quickly back to the speeder and flew to the platform where my ship was.

Dooku's POV

The plan was delicious. I had talked to my master about it, to see if he had any requests. We have known for a while now that Skywalker has feelings for Senator Amidala. My master wanted to find out to what extent, so I arranged for her to be hidden on Coruscant, where she would be picked up and interrogated.

Master Sidious would then have her dumped back on the street, with no memory of what had happened, where she would be 'found' by a clone. That was where Parasitti came in. Taking the shape of a pained and bloodied Senator Amidala would speed up Skywalker's action to help her. A lot. Plus, with Parasitti working for me, I could get her to put on a very good act of begging, as apposed to Amidala warning Skywalker of the trap or telling him she'll commit suicide if he comes or something.

I turned around to see Savage walk in. He bowed. "Parasitti's ship has docked in the hangar, Master." he said.  
"You have not been my apprentice for long Savage, but this is what I've trained you for. Succeed, and I will make you one of the finest and most powerful sith in the history of the galaxy." I said.  
"Thank you Master. I will not fail you." Savage replied.  
"Good. Now let us go and greet our guest."

Anakin's POV

I was in the hangar, under my star fighter. It had gotten pretty banged up last time I was flying, and I wanted it fixed up properly before its next flight.

My holo-projector began to beep. I slid out from my fighter, got up and answered it. I felt a rush of anger and confusion when I saw Dooku's flickering image appear on it. How the hell had he cracked the scramble set? I walked behind a bunch of supplies, out of sight.

I let the anger show on my face. "What do you want, Dooku?" I said coldly. He smiled.  
"There is something in my possession that may be of interest to you, Skywalker." he replied.  
"Oh yeah?"  
"Yes." Dooku stepped back to reveal a bruised and bloody Padmé. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were torn and she was curled up and whimpering in a protective ball. My heart leapt. Fear swept through me. Then came the anger.

I opened my mouth to let loose wave of gruesome threats which I was _very _serious about when he spoke. "If you want Senator Amidala back alive, I suggest you listen." I shut my mouth, but I could feel my feared 'look of hatred' burning on my face. "Tell no one of this. The result of you telling _anyone _will resulting the Senator's immediate disposal. Now, go to the coordinates I'm sending you now. You should be at a Separatist space station in the far outer rim. Now listen _very _closely to this next part Skywalker. I want you to give yourself up." he said the last sentence slow, as if he were speaking to a child.

"Once again, any disobedience will result in Amidala's death. Understand?" he said. I looked at my boots, then back up at Dooku. I nodded.

"Good." he said, and cut the transmission. I stormed off to the Twilight, getting strange looks from clones as I went.

I couldn't stop seeing that image in my head... Padmé's blood-soaked clothing... the look of pain on her face...

I ran up into the Twilight and set the coordinates Dooku sent me. I left Coruscant and engaged the hyperdrive, a thousand thoughts rushing through my head. Would they torture me before they killed me? Would they even let Padmé go? They wouldn't get any information out of me, I was strong willed. What if they-

Then it struck me. No, no, no, no, no. Yes. They wanted Verity. If they caught me they'd practically have her. She had that selflessness in her, I could feel it. My sister or my wife. My lover or my sibling.

I love them both. I shook my head. I couldn't let Verity come... but how was I supposed to stop her? They'd probably kill her straight away, or make her suffer for her betrayal... Dooku would love that. He'd probably torture her in front of me too, just to see the pain on my face.

I would just have to hope she doesn't find out before they killed me. If she did find out, I'd just have to really the Temple was better at keeping people trapped or immobile than the Citadel.

Later...

There it was. I could see the station Dooku had referred to. It was long, wide and obviously had many levels.

I docked the Twilight and walked out to find Dooku and four magna guards waiting for me. I kept close to the ship. "Let me see her." I said, the tone in my voice indicating that I was going to see her whether they liked it or not.

"Of course." Dooku said, and began leading the way towards the detention area. I followed cautiously. Dooku opened the door to one of the cells, where a heap that was Padmé was lying on the floor.

I rushed in and lifted her head up gently. "Padmé, are you ok?" she looked up, barely moving her head. If reminded me all too much of my mother just before she died. She didn't answer.

"Now young Skywalker, if would be so kind to hand over your weapon." Dooku said.  
"You let her go first." I said sternly. "I'm going to watch her leave." All of a sudden Padmé burst out laughing. I stared at her, very confused. She had the widest smile on her face.

I opened my mouth to speak when suddenly Padmé stood up. Weak, injured Padmé _stood up._ I tried to speak but my mouth wouldn't respond.

Padmé's skin began to shift and deform into the wrinkled, green, bug-eyed face of a changeling. I leapt up and made for the door but was stabbed in the back with an electro-staff. I screamed as three more were pressed into my back.

I fell to my knees. The electricity surged through my body like a wildfire. I felt myself being raised off the ground and couldn't breathe. Dooku was choking me, and all the while I was still being electrocuted. I was growing weak, my vision was white with pain, and soon I slipped gently into unconsciousness.

**Voila! Will update ASAP, I promise!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! Sorry for the wait. I have a piano exam coming and needed to practice. I also had a violin concert. Anyway, just a warning that this chapter will be especially long. Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 13**

Verity's POV

I had been awake for ages. I could walk around fine, and was nearly back to being my old self. I was still really tired and a bit weak though. I was lying down on my med bay bed when my holo-projector beeped. I picked it up and answered it, only to find Dooku appear. I pulled my robe tighter around me, suddenly aware of how loose it had been. The last thing I wanted was that slimo getting a flash of anything.

"_You_?What the hell do _you _want with _me _you freak!" I said, furious that he had managed to contact me. Dooku smiled. I hated that smile. He wore it when he was torturing someone, killing them, enjoying their pain. It made me _sick. _

"I must regretfully inform you that your brother has been... detained." he said. I shot straight up, forgetting completely about my robe. "What have you done you worthless, backstabbing, fu-"  
I heard Anakin scream. Dooku stepped aside to reveal several magna guards striking Anakin in the back with their electro-staffs. My mouth went dry. The droids didn't stop, they just hurt him more and more.  
"If you want to see him again, alive that is, I suggest you go to the coordinates I'm sending you now. Tell anyone this and I will ensure Skywalker suffers for it. You have two hours." Dooku smiled again and cut the transmission.

I clenched my fists. I wanted to scream and swear and curse. I wanted to kill him more than ever before. I got out of bed and quickly changed into my black clothes. I was glad I bought several pairs. The ones I wore in the crash were kind of beyond use now.

I finished dressing and sprinted down the hall towards the hangar. Several clones leapt out of the way, terrified looks on their faces as I ploughed past them and stormed into the Millennium Falcon.

I set the coordinates, left Coruscant and soon I was hurtling through hyperspace. I wanted to hurt something. I wanted to crush my ship. I could too, it wouldn't be the first time.

I took several deep breaths. Dooku would have set a trap, somehow outnumbering me. Brother or not, he knew I wouldn't go down for Anakin without a fight. I would go for Dooku first, then find Anakin.

My anger was so strong I could practically feel my eyes changing to yellow and red.

_Save it, _I thought. _Only let out the anger when Dooku is in sight. _

Ahsoka's POV

Master Kenobi and I had been looking for Anakin for ages. We'd checked all over the place; the mess hall, his quarters, the training room, everywhere. He'd last been seen fixing his ship in the hangar, but nobody knew where he was now. We hadn't gone so far as to check the security cameras in the hangar, but we were starting to think it might be the best option.

Master Kenobi had first said he was probably just out or something. That possibility had now been eliminated; he'd been missing for about three hours. We were on our way back to the hangar again when a clone ran up to us.

"General Kenobi, Commander Tano." he said with a salute.  
"Have you found General Skywalker?" Obi-Wan asked. The clone looked confused.  
"General Skywalker's missing?" he asked. I glanced at Obi-Wan.  
"Uh, yeah." I said awkwardly.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Anyway, what exactly were you coming to tell us?" Obi-Wan asked the puzzled clone.  
"I just thought you should know that me and a few of my men were nearly run down by Tyleen. She barreled past us when we were headed to find General Koon. She was headed towards the hangar, and looked pretty angry about something. Her eyes were all..." he tried to make a scrunching gesture with his hands to describe them.

Obi-Wan and I stared at each other. "But she was..." Obi-Wan sprinted off towards the med bay. I quickly followed, leaving the bewildered clone standing alone in the hallway.

I entered the room to find Verity's messed up empty bed, her normal (non med bay) clothes missing and Obi-Wan furiously tapping at the control station for the security cameras.

"There!" he said eventually, pointing at the screen. I watched as Verity sat up in her bed and answered her holo-projector. Obi-Wan paused the video and zoomed in on the flickering image of Count Dooku. He started the video again.

"_You_?What the hell do _you _want with _me _you freak!" Verity yelled at the projection. Dooku smiled. "I must regretfully inform you that your brother has been... detained." he said. My mouth dropped open. We knew, just as Verity would have known, that this was the truth.

"What have you done you worthless, backstabbing, fu-" Dooku stepped aside and Verity stopped her cursing. The holo-projector was now showing a picture of Anakin lying helplessly on the ground, screaming as four electro-staffs were slammed into his back.

"If you want to see him again, alive that is, I suggest you go to the coordinates I'm sending you now. Tell anyone this and I will ensure Skywalker will suffer for it. You have two hours." Dooku said. The transmission ended. We watched Verity. She looked angrier than I had ever seen her. Her eyes were going yellow, her face was red and sweaty.

Obi-Wan used the system to intercept the message and find the coordinates for the place Dooku had spoken of. That was where Verity would be. Hopefully Anakin would be there too. He probably would be; if Verity came close enough to the base in her ship and sensed no Anakin, she wouldn't land. Hopefully.

I quickly turned off the video just as she began to rip off her robe. I turned to Obi-Wan. "What do we do?" I asked quietly.  
"We go. Now. We can tell the Council on our way there. We can't afford to lose any time." he said. I nodded and we ran off to the hangar.

Dooku's POV

"Tyleen's ship has arrived Master." Savage said.  
"Good. Go wait inside there until I call you." I said, indicating a small room that branched off of the one we were currently in.

Verity would find me here. She could sense me. She'd come for me before Anakin, we both knew that.

I turned around and gazed outside of the room's window into the depths of space. After about a minute I heard the door open, but remained where I was. It closed again and I spoke.

"It is a shame we have to meet again in such an uncivilized way, my old apprentice." I turned around. Verity eyes glared at me with cold, deadly anger. If looks could kill, everyone on the station would be dead, or in the case of the droids, scrap metal. She reminded me of her brother in that way.

She had changed how she looked. Different clothes, different hair, all trying to disguise and hide her dark past. "I'm amazed you even know what civilized means, Dooku. You seemed to always think it meant murdering, tormenting and betraying people."

I tried to hide the look of annoyance that was spreading across my face.  
"Now, down to business. I'm in a bit of a rush." she said, reaching for her lightsabers.

"Oh but first, there is someone I'd like you to meet." I used the force to slide the door open and Savage walked through. "Savage Opress, my new apprentice."

Verity recoiled, a look of shock on her face. It quickly turned to one of disgust and before I knew it, Verity was laughing.

"You're scared of me." she said.  
"I don't know what you're talking about." I replied calmly, but inside I was screaming with anger. Verity cocked her head to one side and grinned. "Yes you do. You want me dead ASAP, yet you take the time and effort out of your busy schedule of killing people to find a suitable candidate, cloud his mind of his past, ruin his life and train him. _Then _you bring him out to fight me with you. You. Are. Scared."

Savage seemed to shift on his feet, starting to feel unsure of himself. "Do you know what the saddest, most horrible thing about what you've done to him is?" Verity added. I stayed quiet and turned to face the window again.

"I could say 'I'm sorry for you' or 'I know how you feel', but there's probably not enough of him left to even remember why." she finished.  
"Do you remember?" I asked her. She clenched her fists so hard I thought she'd crush them.

"I hate you." she said to me, probably as motivation for herself. She ignited her blades and I turned around. Instead of the blood red colour they had once been, they were now both a sparkling blue. Just like her brother's. Savage's double sided lightsaber ignited at both ends and I let mine join them.

Verity spun her blades around in a complex movement that reminded me of General Greivous. I made an opening salute. Savage just flexed his fingers.

Verity launched into an attack, spinning both lightsabers in opposite directions. I deflected one and ducked past the other, returning with a strong strike. Verity did a backwards roll out of the way. Savage ran through the middle, swinging his lightsaber down. I stepped back and continued fighting with Verity once he passed.

Savage came back over. Verity used the force to push me back in her next attack. Savage ran at her. She took a step back and thrust her hands forward. Savage screamed as a wave of blue lightning burst from her fingertips and hit him square in the chest.

Obi-Wan's POV

We had informed the Council of the delicate situation between Anakin and Verity. Since we knew them best, the Council had agreed to let us try and handle it, but to call for any help if any backup was needed immediately.

Ahsoka and I docked the ship we had taken in the hangar of a large Separatist station. It was empty, apart from a few battle droids. None of them really seemed to notice anything though. They wouldn't be used to their enemies simply entering their ship. Unless they knew Anakin.

I saw the Twilight. They must of lured him here somehow.

We quietly dropped out of the ship and snuck through a door into one of the halls. We had to trust Verity's skill and hope she was ok, because first we were going for Anakin. He was the injured one, the captive one, and currently Dooku probably wasn't very concerned about him.

That's not to say he wouldn't be well guarded. Then again... We rounded another corner, trusting our senses to lead us to him. After a few minutes, we found ourselves in the detention area.

I quickly pulled Ahsoka back behind the last corner. "What?" she hissed. I jerked my head to the long line of cells. Ahsoka peaked around the corner and quickly came back. She had obviously spotted the two commando droids and the two magna guards.

I looked at her and held up three fingers. I mouthed counting down and we sprinted down the hall, lightsabers in hand.

Ahsoka leapt onto one of the commando droids, pushing its gun away, spinning around and stabbing it with her shoto. It fell to the ground in a heap.

I began fighting the two magna guards; ducking, dodging and deflecting their staffs. I cut one down and soon the other one followed. I looked up just in time to see Ahsoka cut up the other commando droid.

She smiled and opened the door. Suddenly she leapt in, and I heard her lightsaber clashing with something. I ran in to see two more magna guards and quickly joined in the fight.

We quickly defeated them. "Master!" I heard Ahsoka cry. She dropped to the floor where Anakin lay curled up in a ball, his face still contorted in pain. "Master, it's ok. We're here. You're safe now." she whispered, putting his head in her lap and gently stroking his hair.

Anakin's eyes slowly opened. He put on a weak, forced smile. "Hey snips." he murmured. I walked over and helped him sit up. He was obviously not alright, so I didn't bother to ask him. I was dying to ask him why he was here, but restrained myself for his sake. Instead I just gave him a small 'glad you're still alive' smile.

My thoughts drifted back to Verity. "We have to get you back to the ship." I said. "Now".  
"What about the Twilight?" he asked softly.

I nodded and Ahsoka helped Anakin up, flinging his arm over her shoulder and using the force to help support his weight. "Ahsoka, take Anakin back to the Twilight. Go back to the Temple." Ahsoka nodded.

"What about you?" Anakin said, his voice soft, pained and slightly slurred.  
"I have to take care of something." I said. His eyes widened.  
"Verity's here... isn't she?" he choked out. I nodded. Anakin's head dropped.  
"I have to-"  
"No Anakin! You are in no condition to do anything but rest. I will get Verity away from Dooku and we'll follow you and Ahsoka. Understood?" I said strongly.

"Yes Master." Ahsoka said. I nodded to her and left the room quickly. I could hear Ahsoka and Anakin talking as they slowly left the cell.  
"She'll be fine. She's not easy to beat." Ahsoka said reassuringly. I could barely make out Anakin's voice. "Yeah," he said "but some people don't always play fair."

Dooku's POV

Savage lay on the floor gasping. "I see you have learnt a new trick, child." I said. Verity leaped at me, crossed her blades and pushed down on mine. I was bent over, struggling to stop the blades from pressing into me.

"You'll find I'm full of surprises." she snarled. I dropped onto my back and kicked her over me. She rolled and came up onto her feet in one swift movement.

I got off the floor and launched back into an attack. Savage approached her and Verity unleashed another wave of lightning onto him. He screamed and dropped to the floor again. I might have told him how to stop the lightning, but was preoccupied with Verity's somersaulting blades.

Our lightsabers interlocked and we pushed hard at each there. "Get up Savage, you fool!" I said and Savage struggled to his feet.

Verity pushed back at me and released more lightning onto him. He cried out. "I can't. She too angry... too strong for me..." he said.

I attacked Verity again. "Your weakness will not be my downfall!" I yelled to Savage. Suddenly he let out a cry of fury and raised his hands in a choking gesture. My feet left the floor and I couldn't breathe. I deactivated my lightsaber and grappled uselessly at my neck.

Verity was having a harder time with her two blades. She moved them so she didn't stab herself. I struggled harder, though I knew it was pointless. Verity was stronger; she fought the overwhelming urge to grab for the invisible hand crushing her neck, moved one hand towards Savage and used the force to send him flying into the wall.

I dropped to my knees and gasped. To my side, Verity landed on her feet and was also catching her breath.

I looked across the room and saw Savage slowly getting up.

Verity's POV

I stood up straight, took several deep breaths readied my lightsabers. In choking both Dooku and I, Savage had isolated himself. Set himself apart from us both. Dooku stood up and activated his lightsaber and Savage twirled his. It was one, on one, on one.

Savage attacked first. He came at me with force and strength. He swung his lightsaber so hard into mine that I flew back several metres into a wall. I stood up and saw Dooku quickly dodging Savage's strikes. He moved out of the way and I pushed Savage back with force. Dooku used sith lightning on him then turned to me.

I dived at him and he dodged, pushing my blades to one side. I spun around and kicked him hard in the leg, knocking him off his feet and causing him to cry out. he looked desperately around the room and then used the force to launch a table at me.

I cut it in half but it had blocked my view of Savage. He ran at me and his lightsaber cut open the left side of my stomach. I screamed and rolled away, deactivating my lightsabers. I felt desperately at the wound, silently whimpering. It was bad. I didn't think it would kill me, but it was bad.

Savage was about to finish me off when Dooku ran up and nearly cut him in half. Very him; help one opponent disable another then disable them when their back was turned.  
It was Dooku's skill verses Savage's strength. Dooku would probably win.

They were across the other side of the room when I noticed the hatch on the floor. I crawled over to it, one hand on my stomach wound and opened it. Dooku and Savage were too busy trying to kill each other to notice me slip through it.

I tumbled through the hatch and used the force to slow my descent before I slammed into the ground, causing myself even more pain. I rolled over and used the force to close the hatch.

I had to get away before one followed me. I bit my lip to stop crying out at the pain of the gash in my stomach and began crawling away. Every injury I got made me feel more an more sorry for Anakin. I could only imagine the amount of pain that loosing a limb would cause.

I managed to open the door at the end of the hallway and made it just around the corner before I went slack. I stopped moving and watched as faint tendrils of darkness slowly blocked out my vision.

Obi-Wan's POV

It was harder to sense Verity than Anakin. I knew Anakin better, knew what to look for. Even so, I managed to find my way around the twisting corridors of the enormous station. She was strong with the force. That's when I realized the Council, had never done a midi-chlorian count on her. I had to remind them. If she survived, that is.

I opened another door and saw Verity slumped to the side of the hall, her hands covering her stomach.

I ran over to her and propped her up against the wall. Her hands slid off her stomach and I saw a deep gash to the left side. The edge still had a red-orange glow from where it had been sliced open, obviously by a lightsaber.

I gently picked her up and walked quickly back the way I had come, one question going through my mind; Dooku must of done this to her, so how did she get away and why hadn't he found her yet?

I sensed something not too far off, so I picked up my pace.

I eventually made it back to the hangar and climbed into the Millennium Falcon_. _The ship seemed to be very special to Verity, so I took it instead of the ship we had taken from the hangar and prayed I could figure out how to fly it.

I laid Verity down on one of the cabin beds and was relieved to find that the ship's systems where fairly similar to that of Republic ships. I flew the ship out of the hangar and set coordinates for Coruscant.

I sent the ship into light speed, then headed back to the cabins to see what I could do for Verity. I prayed that she would be alright, and not just because she was a good person and friend. I was also worried what Anakin would do if he found out she had died after trying to save him.

**Told you it was long! Reviews are appreciated!**


	14. Chapter 14

**What you've all been waiting for! Sorry if I haven't updated in a while, but I like to think I kept you hanging. Will Verity survive her injury? Did Savage survive his encounter with Dooku? What will Anakin do if Verity doesn't make it? **

**Chapter 14**

Obi-Wan's POV

I had contacted the Jedi Temple and told them to prepare a medic for Verity. I quickly landed the ship on a large landing platform and hurried back to the room where Verity lay slumped on her bed.

I picked her up and ran outside where Ahsoka, Master Windu, Aayla Secura and a team of medics were waiting beside a transport. The gash in her side was exposed and I saw Master Windu and Secura glance at each other upon seeing it.

I wondered if the Council would even care if Verity died. They'd probably only be worried about Anakin's reaction. That thought made me angry.

I placed Verity on a waiting stretcher and quickly followed with Ahsoka as the clone medics ran into the temple to the med bay. Master Windu and Secura went a different direction, voices lowered in deep conversation.

We ran down the halls of the Temple. Everyone we passed looked in a shocked way at Verity's injury. Shocked, yet at the same time unsurprised.

All being force-sensitives, no one got knocked down by the stretcher despite its growing speed. One Jedi was so engrossed in reading something from a holo-pad that when we sprinted towards him he just took a simple step to the side. And his back was to us.

We sped past the Jedi in the hall and burst into the med bay. Anakin was lying on one of the beds, but we'd sped past him before he could even begin to wonder what was happening.

There was a closed off ward at the end of the med bay, and the clones stopped us before we entered. "We need to take it from here sir." he said bluntly, and closed the door on us.

Ahsoka stared blankly at the door, probably thinking the same thing I was: The clones have the best training in the galaxy, whether it be in combat or medical... but was it too late?

"Hey!" I heard a faint cry from the main ward. Ahsoka and I walked nervously back, knowing what awaited us there.

Anakin was sitting up, leaning against a few pillows, a tired look on his face. "What was that all about?" he asked wearily, then looked around. "And where's Verity?"

Ahsoka looked down at her boots. I shifted on my feet. "Where is she?" he repeated, a slight hint of anger playing on his voice. Ahsoka's eyes flickered to the back of room and all the colour drained from Anakin's face.

He opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out. "I... but... she..." he stuttered. "What happened?" he finally managed, his voice no louder than a whisper.

"I... honestly don't know. She went up against Dooku but... I don't get how she escaped and didn't kill him and why he didn't find her and..." I said.  
"How do you know she didn't kill Dooku?" Ahsoka asked.  
"She didn't." Anakin murmured. "I can still sense him." he shivered.

Anakin looked towards the private ward. "Will she be ok?" he asked, choking up. The agony and desperation in his voice was clear. Both Ahsoka and I looked at our feet.

Then came the words from Anakin's mouth we all knew were coming. "It's all my fault." he said. "If I hadn't... if they..." Anakin choked out.  
"It is _not_ your fault!" Ahsoka said strongly. "No matter what you say!" she added.

"It isn't." I agreed. "Verity chose to go to that ship. Even if you weren't there she would have gone to kill Dooku anyway." I said.

Suddenly a clone left the private ward and we all turned around and stared at him expectantly. He saluted and smiled. "I'm pleased to say that General Tyleen should make a full recovery. We've got her in t a bacta tank now and she is coping very well." he said.  
**-Author's Note-  
It seems that due to popular demand and increasing threats on my life, that Verity will remain alive (*cough* damnit! *cough, cough*). Jokes. **

We all cheered and Anakin and Ahsoka hugged in relief. I felt so sorry for Verity; it had only been a few days and she was already back in the bacta tank. The clone smiled at us again. "However," he added and immediately the cheering stopped and we all turned to stare at him anxiously. He raised his hands in defense. "All I was going to say was however, she will need a lot of rest." we all sighed in relief.

Palpatine's POV

I sat opposite Senator Amidala and watched as she began to stir. The drug she had been injected with slowed her movements and made her look like she was waking from death.

I shifted in my seat. This moment was exceedingly important for my master plan to destroy the Jedi. She and Anakin were close, I just needed to know how close.

I began to reach out with the force, clouding her mind. Together, with the drug that was flowing through her, she would become a dazed, confused and slightly mad version of herself. She wasn't weak minded, but not even a strong-willed Jedi could resist both influences.

She lifted her head up and stared at me blankly. "I... I was with Senator Chuchi and..." she began to raise the top of her left arm but frowned when she realized her wrist was shackled to the armrest of the chair.

"Yes, Chuchi brought you here. You're safe now." I said.

I would have to act as if everything were normal or she may suspect something. A secret as big as one she may be hiding was well kept, hard to break into. "Yes. Now, you were saying, Senator?" I said, as if we had been talking for a while.

"Hmm? Saying what?" she asked, confused. Good.  
"You were telling me about young Skywalker. He seemed very concerned when he heard that you had been attacked." I told her. She smiled.  
"He would be, wouldn't he?"

"Being so close to you both I can't help but notice how much you have in common. Are you such good friends?" I asked.  
"Yes, yes! We're _very _close." she said wildly.  
"Are you... a couple?" I asked, leaning foreword and stroking an imaginary beard.  
"Closer!" she giggled.

I kept my expression light and happy. "You're not married, are you?" I asked her like the thought had only just hit me. Her face lit up and she cackled. Not very inconspicuous, but I had to be direct to get through to her.  
"Yes, yes we are! I would do anything for him and he would do anything for me!" she cried joyfully.

"No kids, are there?"  
"Nope! We wouldn't want anyone finding out!" she said. I laughed.  
"Yes, that would be a bit problematic, wouldn't it?" we laughed together.

"Well, thank you for your time Senator, you have been most helpful." I said, rising from my chair. She tried to stand too but was stopped by the shackles that bound her wrists to the table.

"Sorry, but you're going to have to stay here for now." I told her, then leant over and tapped two fingers to her forehead. She slumped in the chair and I grinned. The results I had could not have been better. Now my plan would start to take shape.

I suddenly frowned. Dooku's brief apprentice Savage Opress is on the loose. That idiot Dooku got distracted and Savage locked him in a room, buying him enough time to escape. I sighed, then smiled. _Be patient_, I told myself, _soon the sith will rule the galaxy once more. _

**Sorry for lack of action, but I am getting closer and closer to some more big moments!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys! Sorry if I haven't updated in a while, but hey; I update way more often than ****some**** people, right? Anyway, just a warning that most of this chapter is a recount of the episode 'Brothers' (not really a spoiler, as it happens in the series). Sorry if you don't like that sought of thing (I know I don't) but it's just this once. It was necessary. I skipped a lot of the detail/description at the start because it was too long and boring to rewrite it all and also missed the whole bit before Savage meets that snake thing. Anyone, hope you like. **

**Chapter 15**

Anakin's POV

I had been so worried Verity might die that I didn't even consider that Padmé might be in danger. I sensed she was alive, so I thought she was ok. She had been found by two clones on patrol lying unconscious on a side street, deep in the Coruscant 'underworld'. She looked pretty much exactly the same as the bounty hunter had in the hologram. The shape shifter, who I had identified as Cato Parasitti, had obviously attacked her _before _taking her shape. I felt so guilty. How could she forgive me?

I watched as Padmé rolled over in her sleep. We were in a private ward in one of Coruscant's many medical facilities. Obviously, the four and a half inch slow-healing gap in Verity's side was a little more severe than Padmé's mere cuts and bruises, but I visited both equally. Padmé was really only in the place because she had been given some unidentified drug that slightly messed up her thoughts, and she needed to be 'contained' in case she did something really stupid like blab top-secret information to Seppies or something.

I leant over her and stroked her cheek before standing and leaving the building. I got into my speeder and flew back to the Temple.

Obi-Wan was there waiting for me. He jogged over and smiled. "Anakin! You'll be pleased to know Verity's awake. She's been asking us whether you're okay and says she won't believe us until she has proof." he said, smiling slyly at the last comment.

I grinned and jogged quickly with him to the medical ward, where Verity was sitting up in bed smiling and Ahsoka was laughing at something. "You're alive!" Verity cried happily upon seeing me, throwing her hands up high in the air before crying out and grabbing her left side.

I walked over. "Are you okay?" I asked seriously. Verity put her hand to her chin in a 'let me think' gesture before replying. "Well, for someone who got a four and a half inch gap cut into her two days ago... great!" she raised her arms for the last bit and winced again, clutching her side.

A clone walked into the room and approached us. He saluted. "General Kenobi, Master Yoda would like to speak with you." he said.

Obi-Wan nodded and rose. "Ahsoka, you should probably get some training in before your next mission." He said, evidently sensing I wanted some time alone with my sister. "We'll visit again later." he said to Verity, then nodded to me and they followed the clone out. I looked around. Verity and I were alone in the med bay.

"Let me see it." I said to her.  
"It's fine, really it's-"  
"I know that look on your face, I've used it all too often. You're hiding your pain. Let me see." I pressed. Verity sighed and slid the blanket that covered her down. She was only wearing white undergarments, and a bandage was wrapped around her stomach. She gritted her teeth and began to unwind it.

I stared at the deep indentation and still healing wound in her side. Some parts of her flesh only seemed to be held together by thin, stringy bits of healing skin stretching from one side of her wound to the other. A gruesome sight, but atleast not bloody, unlike her last injuries, from which she still had the scars.

Verity was avoiding looking at the wound and was biting down hard on her lip. That was all I needed to know that it was seriously hurting her. _Seriously_. I sat next to her on the bed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She turned sobbed into it. Losing my arm was the most painful thing I've experienced in my life so far, and though Verity's wound didn't cut all the way through her stomach, my arm wasn't four and a half inches across. The only thing that probably kept her alive during her journey to Coruscant was her incredibly strong will power.

Her cheerful act when Obi-Wan and I had arrived, and probably when she had been with Ahsoka, was just another demonstration of it.

"I've been in the bacta tank a lot recently." she said, once she'd calmed down. "Too much time fully-submerged in bacta could make me ill, stop my body working independently. So I can't go back in. The clones have to put a little on the wound every hour. They don't want to overrun my blood with anesthetic, so I have to do with a few painkillers." she whispered.

I nodded and wound the bandage back around her stomach. She slid back and lay all the way down in her bed, indicating she wanted to sleep. I gently stroked her head, stood up and turned the light off.

"Visit soon." she whispered.  
"I will." I replied, and left the med bay.

Savage's POV

I had barely escaped from Dooku with my life. The only thing that got my away from him was the fact that he noticed Tyleen had disappeared. He threw me back into a wall with the force and began searching around desperately for her. Then I used the force to slam _him _into a wall, and ran out the door while he was getting up. I had shut it and destroyed the controls so that he would have to cut his way through. That had given me enough time to grab a ship from the hangar and get the hell out of there.

I had gone to the only place I could go to: the Night Sisters. Mother Talzin, to be exact. She had given me my strength... surely she would know what I was to do.

So I had gone to her and she had told me I had a brother, hiding in the outer rim. She said he could teach me and had given me a... what to call it... _magic_, compass? It would lead me to him, and that's how I ended up on a scrap covered planet following some stupid, insane snake thing with an annoying voice through rubble.

The snake thing claimed it knew where my brother was, or at least someone of my species. It could only be him, but it wasn't like I trusted this junkyard scum that was leading me.

After a while it began raining. Acid rain, which was so strong it would melt us down unless we found shelter. The snake -I thought it was a he but couldn't be sure-, lead me into a small banged up shelter. There were a few bodies of the creatures I had seen earlier on my 'trip' lying around. My compass was glowing.

I looked around desperately, crying in outrage when I found nothing. "Mother Talzin!" I cried. "She tricked me!"

"She's not the only one who tricked you." the snake said, and slammed the end of his tail onto what looked like a lever. The ground beneath me gave way and I fell down some kind of passageway. It was a trap. The snake said something about a master and leftovers, before shutting the door and leaving me in darkness.

Upon looking around, I saw there was a faint glow coming from one end of the tunnel. I heard faint noises around me. I spun around and took out my lightsaber. There was a slight creaking noise and I heard what sounded like someone's voice. Very faint, but I was sure it was there.

"Is that you, brother?" I called, my voice echoing down the long tunnel. I ignited ne side of my lightsaber and held it in front of me, as protection and a source of light. I heard laughter this time, getting louder as I made my way towards the light.

I called out once more and got no reply. However, I heard a sort of… scuttling noise. Someone was moving away from me. Quickly, I followed the source of the noise. I heard someone making anguished cries and snarling.

I saw an outline in the dim light. It was unnatural; something was wrong with the bottom half… "You!" I shouted. "Stop there! What have you done with my brother? Answer me you monster!"

The thing was screaming now, yelling. Then it rammed into me, knocking me backwards. It pushed me to the ground and I kicked it into the opposite wall. It began quickly backing away from me, still crying out.

Just as I thought it was going to retreat, it banged into me once more and knocked my lightsaber from my grip. It shoved me up against a wall, and my compass began glowing and raising towards it… "What? It can't be…" I said.

The face of the creature came into view. _He _had black and red tattoos, horns and red-rimmed yellow eyes. "Brother." I said. However glad I was, there was no denying the fact that the creature standing before me was insane. He was skinny from lack of food and acted so vicious.

"No! Aaaaaaaah!" he cried, and ran off screaming.  
"Wait, brother!" I called, following him to the end of the tunnel. A fire burned brightly, and only then did I fully see him…

He had no legs. No lower half for that matter. In their place he had a giant, robotic, spider like abdomen with long and thin metal spider legs, made from scrap. He was still screaming "No! No! Aaaaaaaah!".

"You are the brother I've been searching for!" I said to him, trying to convince myself as much as him. He savagely, in a highish and croaky voice, kept repeating 'no'. He obviously hadn't spoken to anyone in a while.

"Yes, we are; we are brothers!" I said. He said no a few more times, while circling around to the other side of the fire. He gripped at his head and let out a maddening, crazed laugh. "You don't know…" he whimpered. "You don't know, _anything_!" he was shouting now. He retreated into a gap in the wall. He laughed again and came back out.

"I know that I am your blood." I insisted.  
"Never!" he shrieked, coming towards me. "Never." He repeated, grabbing his head and screaming, then cackling.

Suddenly I heard a high-pitched chuckle behind me. I turned around to see that betraying snake coming towards me. "I'm ready for my leftovers!" it cried happily. I turned around and looked at it angrily. "Oh. You're still alive, huh?" it said, backing away slowly. I took a step towards it and it began slithering away as fast as it could, but I ran up and grabbed its tail, then moved my grip to its neck.

"Who did this to my brother?" I demanded, walking back towards the fire. "Are you part of this?" I asked it.  
"No!" it gasped. "No, no! I found him this way! It wasn't me, I found him this way!"  
"You can't be trusted. You're a slithering liar! You should have been helping him!" I cried, and began choking it.  
"I didn't know!" it said. "I didn't know!" I squeezed it harder and snapped its neck, then threw the body onto the fire. I heard my brother whining then laughing.

"This is where you live?" I asked over his cries. "How long have you been here?"  
"Years and years and years." He replied. "Through victory, my chains are broken. The chains, the chains are the easy part. It's what goes on in here, that's hard!" he choked out, tapping his head. He began weeping.

"You have been lost, my brother." I said, walking towards him. "Do you remember who you are? Where you came from?" I asked, moving my lightsaber hilt for emphasis.

"Always remember I am fear, always remember I am hunter. Always remember I am filth always remember I am nothing." He replied.

"Your legs…" I continued.  
"That scum, he took them from me. He took them!" he yelled.  
"Who, who took them?" I pressed.  
"Jedi." He snarled. "Jedi!"

"You remember!" I cried, bending down to face him.  
He had his head down and was saying "I don't ask for mercy, Master. Mercy is a lie, a delusion of the weak to think themselves strong. I ask not for mercy…"

"What, what is it?" I asked, his crazed ramblings confusing me. "Brother, what are you saying?"  
"And through the filth, through the grief, Jedi!" he yelled, running over to me and causing me to back up.

A look of realization dawned on his face. "Revenge." He whispered. "I must have revenge."

**Like I said, I missed a lot at the start. Sorry if anyone's getting confused at my episode ordering; I placed the Nightsisters/Savage events after the Citadel even though they're before. Please review! **


	16. Chapter 16

**Ok, this is going to be a long chapter but, enjoy. Oh, and I really need some help: I need some ideas/suggestions for someone I could pair Verity with. I've considered Rex, maybe Fives, but I can't really see her with a clone. I might though. I've even considered **_**Obi-Wan**_**, but he's too old and I want to do Obitine. If you have any suggestions or ideas for characters, please type them in a review. PLEASE, I REALLY NEED IDEAS SOON! P.S. No Lux.**

**Chapter 16**

Obi-Wan's POV

"Master Yoda?" I said, stepping into the small room in which Yoda sat, eyes closed and meditating.  
"Feel the disturbance in the force, do you?" he asked.  
"Yes, Master." I replied. I had been pondering over the feeling for a while now, but my worry for Verity and Anakin had briefly pushed it out of my mind.

"Fear you are in danger, I do." he continued. That was a thought which hadn't occurred to me. "From the dead, an old enemy has awakened, seeking vengeance."  
"An old enemy?" I queried, wondering who could still be alive and hates me enough to gain the title 'old enemy'.

"Killed your Master many moons ago, he did." Yoda said. My heart leapt. Master Qui-Gon had been killed by Darth Maul…

"How can this be? I killed him myself!" I said. I had found atleast a little comfort in the fact that Qui-Gon had died knowing I had defeated the sith which killed him. He would have been proud, but…

"It is so, I fear." Yoda said.  
"Darth Maul… alive?" I stroked my beard and gazed out through the window, over the currently rainy planet that was Coruscant.

Mother Talzin's POV

I watched a beat-up looking ship come in to land, not far away from the now near-empty Nightsister temple. The ramp lowered and Savage Opress left the ship and walked out straight into the remains of a battle field. The bodies of those in the undead army lay scattered everywhere, along with droids and the up-until-recently very much alive bodies of Nightsisters.

He looked around, in slight shock. I made my self appear around him in a green mist, before appearing completely. "Savage." I said, as he turned around to face me.  
"Mother." He said with a slight bow.  
"Shall we?" I said, motioning for him to walk with me towards his ship.  
"What happened here?" he asked, following. "Where are the rest of the sisters?"  
"Dooku sent his minions to destroy us… but we will survive." I replied solemnly. "We always have."

In the distance I heard a strangled scream, more likely to come from an animal or beast than a man. I knew instantly who it was. "You found him. I knew you would." I said.

"Yes. He is… damaged." He replied hesitantly. "He doesn't remember much of his old life."  
We approached the base of the ship. "Hmm. But he does remember something." I told him.  
"Something or someone, named Kenobi." He agreed. "It is an obsession."

We entered the ship and I saw a shape in the distance. Savage's brother, shuddering and moaning in his madness. I began to create a green ball of magic. "Come; let us fix what has been broken." I said, and sent the green ball of light over to Darth Maul. "Come to me. Come to me. Follow us, son of Dathomir."

Darth Maul, mesmerized by the light, began to follow us to the Nightsister temple. Once we were deep inside the temple, I retracted the light. "Now, sleep." I said, and touched a finger to his forehead. He screamed and fell back onto a bench. His spiderlike robot legs began to unravel at my command. "Now what?" Savage asked.

"Now we begin." I replied. I began waving my hand around Darth Maul's head and chanted. He began to groan as I pulled the filth and the cloudiness from his mind, clearing his thoughts. I extended my magic to the rest of him and he began to rise off the table. Concentrating hard, I pulled bits of metal from the remains of his previous legs and wound other bits them in place. I waved my hand and excess metal burnt away, leaving only the neat and perfectly 'welded' shape of two perfect robotic legs. They would enhance his movement, once he got used to them.

I sighed as I lowered him back to the table. He looked better now. His horns were not as wild and he was strong. "Arise, Maul, reborn son of Dathomir!" I said, and pressed my finger to his forehead once more. His eyes opened; the same yellow and red as before, but more sane.

"Brother?" Savage asked. Darth Maul sat up, then grabbed Savage's chin before something registered behind his eyes. "Brother." He replied. He released Savage, then sat up properly and examined his legs. "My… my legs." He said softly.  
"They have been restored, by Mother Talzin." Savage explained. He tested moved them around a bit, clenching and opening the claw-like feet.

"It has been so long and my path has been so dark, darker than I ever believed it could be." he swung his legs over the side of the bench and tried to stand up, but fell over immediately.  
"And yet you survived." Savage said, as Maul got up and hung onto the table and tried standing again, this time succeeding and talking a few steps forward.

"Of course I survived." he snarled. He ran from the temple and Savage followed.

Savage's POV

My brother screamed in joy. "My hatred kept my spirit intact even though my body was not. Yet I was lost and became a rabid animal and such is how you found me, brother. Discarded, forgotten. I have missed... so much." he said. He tilted his head. "The force feels out of balance." he said.  
"Yes. There is conflict. The Clone Wars." I explained.  
"Oh, yes. So it began without me." He said, absent mindedly. I took the remaining half of his lightsaber out of my pocket. "You can begin again, brother." I held out my hand, and he used the force to pick it up.

"I was apprentice to the most powerful being in the galaxy once. I was destined to become so much more, but I was robbed of that destiny by the Jedi, by Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"Then you must have your revenge, my brother." I said. Though I didn't tell him, I too wanted revenge; Dooku, for his betrayal and Tyleen, for being the reason I was taken in the first place.

"Yes, we shall start with revenge." he said.

10 DAYS LATER

Padmé's POV

I had been out of the med bay for about 8 days now. Anakin had apologized for not realizing I had been attacked so many times he was making me feel bad for not being able to calm him down and convince him it was ok.

Verity's wound had finished healing about five days ago and I had spent most of my time since then helping her regain her strength with Anakin, by helping her walk around and then later over obstacles and through training courses. She was improving really quickly, and was apparently nearly ready to go back into battle.

I felt kind of responsible for what happened, even though it really was no one's fault. Despite having previously kidnapped me, force-choked me, thrown me out of a ship and handed me over to the Separatists, I was really warming up to my sister in law. I watched as she did a cartwheel and double back flip over Anakin's head when a thought occurred to me: would Anakin tell her we were married? No one knew. _No _one. But Verity was his sister… and it's not like she's loyal to the Jedi order or anything. She's the type of person who'd keep a secret like that. Plus, she was Anakin's only living true blood relative. The Lars family were kind, but he wasn't really related to them.

Obi-Wan's POV

I watched the hologram in horror as Darth Maul marched in front of several terrified people, who stood in a line behind him as he spoke. "There will be more innocent blood on your hands, Kenobi, unless you come here, face me. Come alone and if you do not, this world..." he activated his lightsaber and spun around, killing the people he had forced to stand there. "will burn." the transmission ended and I took a moment to process what had happened. Those people, _innocent _people, died because of his burning hatred for me.

"I have to go." I said.  
"Not alone you're not." Master Windu said. "We'll send a task force with you."  
"No, you see what he's capable of. He's a broken, unbalanced monster." I replied. "I've dealt with him before. I can do it again."  
" I disagree. This is clearly a trap." Master Windu said.

"Against my better judgment, agree with Master Kenobi, I do. Finish what he started long ago, Obi-Wan must." Master Yoda said, walking forward.  
"I'm off to Raydonia." I said, and left the room.

Mace Windu's POV

"Master Yoda, if this is indeed Darth Maul, his capture is far too important to leave it to Obi-Wan alone." I said, thinking through the chaos that had been caused last time he was loose.

"I agree." Yoda said, which confused me as he had said that Obi-Wan should go alone. "After he has left, prepare and send help, we will. Send only one, we will. One who knows the Sith. One who would have a natural advantage. Yes, hmmm."

"Are you referring to young Tyleen, Master?" I asked. Yoda nodded. I didn't like this idea. Tyleen may have proven herself, but she still had much darkness within her and I didn't trust her.  
"Just recovered, she has. Risk her life after her injury, Obi-Wan would not. But no other choice, do we have." Yoda explained.  
"I will go and speak to her, and send her to Raydonia after Obi-Wan has had a head start." I said hesitantly, and left to go to the training rooms, where I believed I would find Tyleen.

Obi-Wan's POV

I took my ship out of hyperspace and brought it in to land on Raydonia. Even from up so high, I could see smoke billowing up from what had obviously once been a populated village. It wasn't populated anymore.

I cautiously left the ship, glancing quickly at the glowing flowers and plants that surrounded me. But I could hardly see their beauty at a time like this.

I entered the village. An astromech repeatedly banged into the wall of a house. Bodies were scattered everywhere.

"Jedi!" someone said. I looked up the side of a small ridge at the source of the voice. A fire burnt brightly behind the figure. He was tall, and his legs were robotic... General Greivous like. He was a Zabrak, with red and black tattoos...

"I have been waiting for you." the man said.  
"I'm not sure I've made your acquaintance." I replied, wishing myself to believe my own words.  
"I am surprised you could have forgotten me so easily after I killed your Master and you left me for dead on Naboo." he snarled.

"It is you." I said.  
"You may have forgotten me," he continued, "but I will never forget you!" he cried. "You would not imagine the depths I would go to stay alive, fueled by my singular hatred for you."

"That may be so but I have defeated you before and I can defeat you again!" I said strongly, activating my lightsaber.

Maul laughed. "Don't be so certain." he said. Suddenly, someone dropped behind me. It was another Zabrak, this one with yellow tattoos. Savage Opress; Verity had told me about him. He activated one end of a double sided lightsaber and swung hard. I coughed as I was pushed back by the force of his blow. I heard someone land behind me but was too preoccupied with the other Zabrak's ferocious attacks. My lightsaber clashed with his and he pushed me back, then elbowed me in the face.

I fell to the ground and lost my grip on my lightsaber. Darth Maul used the force to pick it up. I stood up and he used the force to push me back, straight into Opress's fist. I cried out and fell to the ground.

I struggled up once more, just in time to see a huge fist flying towards my face.

When I awoke, I seemed to be in the cargo hold of their ship. Maul picked me up and flung me into a stack of crates. He then came back over, dragged me along the floor and threw me into Opress, who turned me around and forced me to look at Maul.

"Still as weak as ever." Maul said, bringing his hand back and slapping my face hard to the side. Opress swung me around into some more boxes, then hurled me like a javelin across to the other side room into more boxes. "And they call you Master." Maul said.

I used on of the crates to pull myself up and laid a hand on my throbbing back. "You know," I said weakly, "when I cut you in half, I should have aimed for your neck instead."

Opress growled and flung me at Maul's feet, causing me to gasp in pain. Maul nodded towards the cockpit, and Opress left the room, probably to fly the ship off of the planet.

"Anything more to say?" Maul snarled at me in hatred.  
"I like your new legs. They make you look taller."

He lifted me up and grabbed my face, raising his lightsaber to my neck and activating it. I groaned and struggled. "I will make sure you stay awake long enough to feel every single cut." he said, obviously fantasizing in his mind all the wonderful ways he could torture me. "Your death, will be beyond excruciating. You will suffer as I have suffered!" he said, as Opress came back in.

"What a surprise!" a voice called from somewhere above us. It sounded like... but it couldn't be... "My predecessor and the legendary sith warrior who was defeated by a mere _padawan._" Verity continued. Maul whipped around, angered that someone dared interrupt his little 'speech'.

"My brother." said Opress, to Verity.  
"Your brother? I've heard he was such a warrior, but it looks like he's half the man you are Savage." she said, laughing at her own joke and backing away into the shadows. Darth Maul did not seem amused.

"Who is this, brother?" Maul asked.  
"A new Sith named Count Dooku's old apprentice. She's the reason I was taken from my clan and given to Dooku; to help kill her." Savage replied savagely.

"Then you, too, have seen the light in the darkness, girl!" Maul cried. "How did it feel to have that power?"  
"Better than it did when I found out the person who taught me everything I knew murdered my family." she said bitterly. Her voice seemed to float down all around us. She could have been anywhere, but Maul and Opress seemed to decide she was on a higher level of the ship when a door on the top level of the cargo bay closed.

"She knows too much; destroy her." Maul told Opress, who leaped up crates until he reached the catwalk that circled around the top of the hold. Maul then punched me in the face, and everything went black.

Verity's POV

I waited silently until both Maul and Opress had left the room before dropping down next to Obi-Wan. "Obi-Wan, wake up!" I hissed, rolling him onto his back. I shook him, and eventually had to resort to slapping him. He groaned and his eyes fluttered open.

"What are you doing here, Verity?" he asked softly as I helped him up.  
"You didn't really think the Council would let you take on Maul by yourself, did you?" I replied as he brushed himself off.  
"Anakin's gonna kill me." he muttered. I laughed softly.  
"He's gonna kill me first." I said.

"The ex-Sith and the Jedi." Savage Opress said from above the hold.  
"Here for our taking." Darth Maul added, and we spun around to face him. Both ignited their lightsabers and I handed Obi-Wan one of mine.

"Ready?" he asked, as we ignited our blades.  
"When haven't I been?" I asked, then, after a moment of consideration, quickly added "Don't answer that." Obi-Wan smiled and readied himself to fight Maul. I turned to Savage and whirled my blade, but it felt wrong to only have one lightsaber. It would take some getting use to, but it looked like I was going to have to get used to it in battle. I quickly thought through my options: I couldn't use Sith lightning; the room was too small so it might hit Obi-Wan. One lightsaber and no sith lightning; not good.

Maul jumped down from the catwalk and began fighting with Obi-Wan. Savage leaped after him, slamming his double sided lightsaber into mine. I blocked and he swung over my head, so I ducked and did a back flip out of the way, kicking him in the stomach. It barely affected him at all, and soon he was on top of me again. He had definitely had some more training, probably from Maul.

Obi-Wan and I were nearly back to back. As he dived out of the way to avoid an attack I slipped past him and swung my lightsaber at Maul. I heard his blade clash with Savage's. We whirled back to our original opponents and continued fighting.

I used the force to push Savage away a bit then ran up and kicked him, then prepared to push him again when he grabbed my arm and managed to hurl me into a stack of crates so that I was on my stomach, facing away from him, and my lightsaber had been knocked out of my hand. He grabbed my legs, spun me around and threw me across the room towards another stack of crates, but I managed to do a sought of half flip, half spin and partially kick the boxes away. What was it with people and hitting me with, or into, crates?

He came over and I used the force to push one crate, then another into him. He turned away and I leaped over the remaining boxes onto his shoulders and began punching him in the face. Surprisingly, he managed to get a grip on me and slammed me into the ground. He raised his lightsaber to stab me when I did a backwards roll and punched him in the gut. He swung his lightsaber around but I ducked and dodged, punching him again.

He used the force to slam me into more crates and swung his lightsaber, but missed as I ran over the tops of some of the boxes that had been scattered across the floor. Obi-Wan, who was handling Maul pretty well, force pushed him backwards and looked over at me quickly. Savage came over and I had to leap up boxes as he frantically tried to stab me. Where was my lightsaber?

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Obi-Wan to a complex roll-thing over Maul's back and grab his lightsaber. "Verity, catch!" he yelled, and threw me mine. I caught it and spun around just in time to block Savage's double blades. He was pushing down on me hard, but I could hold it.

Maul and Obi-Wan had gone somewhere above us, and from what I could hear, Maul was taunting him. Something about Obi-Wan's Master. I heard Obi-Wan cry out in rage and their battle seemed to quicken. Suddenly, Obi-Wan fell down beside me and I could sense Maul was just above and behind us.

"I think it might be time for us to leave." Obi-Wan said.  
"I agree. The escape pod?" I said. Maul jumped down and Savage approached us.  
"Now!" Obi-Wan yelled. I spun around and engaged Maul, and heard Obi-Wan begin fighting Savage. It felt really weird to fight someone who'd been thought dead for however many years.

"Come on, come on!" Obi-Wan called. I risked a glance away from my battle; Obi-Wan had reached the cockpit door, but Savage and Maul were in my way. I quickly spun around so that my back was to Savage and pushed off Maul, deactivating my lightsaber and doing a series of backwards cart-wheel flip things until I got to Savage. I leaped up and felt Obi-Wan lift me up higher with the force. I did a long mid-air spin and landed in front of Savage and beside Obi-Wan. I force-pushed Savage back and Maul leaped over the top of him, roaring in rage.

I stepped back and Obi-Wan shut the door just before two red blades were driven into it. Savage and Maul's angered faces snarled at us through a small window. I made a face and used the force to pull down a shade over the window so I couldn't see them.

"Here." Obi-Wan said, and handed me my other lightsaber. He must have got it while he was waiting for me to get to the cockpit, before he lifted me up of course. He quickly rushed over to the controls to get the pod working. I quickly activated my lightsabers and faced the door, which the brothers were cutting through quickly.

"Obi-Wan, _hurry_." I said, as he frantically pushed buttons behind me. "Obi-Wan, _now._" I pressed. I heard him slam his fist down on the control panel and the pod jerked away from the rest of the ship. Thankfully the brothers hadn't had enough time to cut completely through the door, and their lightsabers had sealed the metal.

"That was cutting it a little close." I said. Obi-Wan sighed and collapsed. "Are you ok?" I asked, walking over him.  
"Thanks to you." he replied. I smiled and gazed out of the cockpit window.  
"Well, that adds two to the long list of people who want me dead." I said. Obi-Wan chuckled and engaged the hyperdrive. "Well, we have a bit of time. I want to hear this list." he said.

"Ah, ok. First there's Dooku, Savage and Maul, Aurra Sing-"  
"Aurra Sing?" he said, surprised.  
"Let's just say I stuffed up one of her jobs pretty badly." I said, then continued with my list.

-Fifteen minutes later-

"Then there was that guy who hit on me while I was in a bar on a mission who's ear I cut off, a twi'lek dancer girl who picked a fight with me and lost her head tails for it, uh, oh yes, Mikko Strolios; he didn't share my sense of humor when I blew up his apartment, and General Greivous and I have always shared a feeling of hatred for one another."  
"Same here." Obi-Wan said.  
"So I've heard. Now, where was I? Oh yes; Jack-" I started, but was cut off by Obi-Wan.

"You can stop there Verity. You're starting to scare me with thoughts of all the people who might come after you."

**Remember! I need Verity pairing ideas!**


	17. Chapter 17

**This chapter is going to show a little fun aspect to Temple life. I've actually had it finished for about a week, but have wanted to space out my chapters a bit; because before I write anymore big things (and believe me, I have the WHOLE thing planned out), I need to know what happens to those two (and I quote) laser sword wielding crazies; Darth Maul and Savage Opress. In the meantime, I will try to come up with some mission ideas for the guys to be sent on (too many have been about blowing up bases, maybe a space battle?). I'm thinking Verity and Ahsoka bonding, ya know? Anyway, read on!**

**Chapter 17**

Obi-Wan's POV

We arrived at the Temple to find Masters Yoda, Windu, Anakin and Padmé waiting for us. "Are you both alright?" Anakin asked us.  
"Yeah." I said and Verity nodded. Anakin sent a worried glance my way. We were both hoping Verity hadn't been pushed too far after her injury. Heck, we'd be worrying even if she _hadn't _had an injury.

"Glad we are, to see you have returned safely." Yoda said.  
"Yes." Master Windu added. "I believe some rest is in order." he said. We nodded and the two High Council members left.

"Are you alright?" Anakin said immediately, rushing to Verity.  
"I'm _fine. _You worry too much." Verity said. Anakin gave her a look.  
"Hey, the questions should be is _Obi-Wan _alright?" she said, turning to me. Anakin and Padmé both turned to me an bombarded me with questions, giving Verity the chance to smirk at me and slip away.

Verity's POV

I strode happily down the halls of the Temple all the way to the hangar. I grabbed a few tools and leaped up on top of the _Millennium Falcon. _I walked over the hull until I spotted something that needed to be fixed or could be improved.

I sat down beside the shield generator and began absentmindedly tweaking it. I heard the sound of an engine and looked up as a jet black Jedi fighter was flown into the hangar. The pilot landed the ship and opened the cockpit. It was a young man, about my age. He was tall and muscular, with pale skin, had black hair with a side fringe and startling green eyes. He wore black Jedi robes.

He got out of his ship with grace and ease and jogged over to say hi to a clone. I returned to my work, heard the Jedi and clone laugh and soon after heard someone call out to me. "Hey!" a man called. I removed the protective goggles from my eyes and stood up.  
"Is that a Corellian Freighter?" he asked. I did a flip off the edge of the ship and landed in front of him.

"You got it. The _Millennium Falcon. _Looks like a piece of junk, often acts like a piece of junk, but she's got it where it counts." I told him, crossing my arms. I was wearing fingerless black gloves and still clutched the hydro-spanner I had been using.

"I don't believe we've met." he said, and held out his gloved hand. They weren't 'I've lost a limb like Anakin gloves, just normal gloves. I took his hand and shook it. "Jason Blaxstarr." he said.  
"Verity Tyleen." I responded. His green eyes widened.

"Verity Tyleen? _The _Verity Tyleen?"  
"Uh, yeah, that would be me. Unless you've gotten me mixed up with someone else."  
"The Verity Tyleen who was trained by Count Dooku, then turned against him, practically got blown up, went up against your old Master and his new apprentice solo and survived?" he said eagerly.  
"Uh, yeah." I said.  
"Cool!" he cried. I laughed.

"And I believe I've heard your name before too... Jason Blaxstarr... Were you the person who dyed all of Yoda's robes bright pink, who I've heard so much about?" I asked.  
"The one and only." he said with a smirk. I laughed again.  
"The _Joker_, that's right! Ahsoka Tano told me about you. She said you nicknamed yourself the Joker!"

"Yeah, I did." he smiled.  
"What else have you done?" I asked. He put his fingers to his chin in thought.  
"Anakin Skywalker's your brother, right?" he asked. I nodded. The news had obviously spread pretty quickly, despite us trying to keep it a secret.

"Well, don't tell him it was me, but once I used these tiny remote-control droids to hack into his robotic arm and made him repeatedly slap himself in the middle of a meeting with the Council. I got it on tape, it was hilarious." he said with a smirk. I grinned.

"What about you?" he asked. "What have you done, Miss Tyleen?"  
"Well, now that you mention hacking, I once created an override for General Greivous' robotic body; I made him dance with multiple battle droids in the middle of a firefight. I'm talking tangos, waltzes and disco here." I said, smiling at the memory of the General's 'Thriller' moves. He was also surprisingly talented at doing pirouettes.

Jason burst out laughing and high-fived me. "Nice! Well, I better be off; I've been planning an attack on the Mess Hall for a while now. Unless you really, and I mean _really_, like cake, make sure you're not in there at seven-thirty tonight!" he said, then jogged towards the entrance to the central part of the Temple. "Later Verity!" he called.  
"See ya!" I replied.

I jumped back up onto my ship and started to fix up the hyperdrive, unable to drive the smile from my face; the Order lacked such care-free Jedi these days.

At 7:25 that night...

I walked up to the Mess Hall door and leant against the wall beside it. I wanted to see what Jason had in store for this evening's 'entertainment'. About three minutes later, Anakin walked by. "Are you ok?" he asked. I smiled at him.  
"Really, I am _fine._ Don't worry yourself." I said.  
"Can I see the-" he stopped as I lifted up the bottom of my shirt to show the scar of my most recent injury. He smiled.  
"It looks much better." he said as I rolled my shirt back down. He smiled and went to go into the Mess when I held up my hand to stop him. "What is it?" he asked, his voice filling with concern for me, when suddenly there was loud explosion from the other side of the door. There were a few screams. Bits of pink and white stuff flew out from the small gap under the door and a bit went over Anakin's boots. I smiled; it was icing.

Anakin, suddenly worried something terrible had happened to the people inside, quickly opened the door. What lay inside was a sight to behold...

There was not an inch of the room which was not covered in cake or pink and white icing. It coated the walls, ceiling, cutlery, cooking utensils, _everything. _

There were about 35 Jedi in there, all of different ages. There were one or two Padawans, Knights, Masters, I even saw Ki-Adi Mundi! All coated in sticky pink and white icing. I wasn't wearing the gloves I'd had on earlier, so I ran my finger along the side of the wall and licked it, smiling at the taste of the sweet icing. "Vanilla." I said. Anakin burst out laughing and everyone in the room stared at us.

I closed the door and told Anakin to come with me to the security room. There sat Jason, leaning back on a chair with is feet up on the console, laughing his head off as he watched the video of everyone in the room. He got up when he saw us and we each gave him a high-five.

We leaned over the console as the first of his victims began making movements. A Jedi Master slipped on the icing-covered floor and landed on his back. "Obi-Wan and Ahsoka aren't in there, are they?" I asked.

I watched as a vaguely togrutan-shaped girl 'skated' across to the sink and splashed water on her face. Watery icing dripped down her and I caught sight of her eyes. It was Ahsoka. We erupted in another fit of wild giggles and then left the room before anyone realized we had been there.

Jason left to go to his room and Anakin and I walked all the way to my ship in the hangar. He walked with me into my little cabin and I sat down on my bed. "Well, I better go and make sure Ahsoka survived the 'caking'. Get some rest." He gave me a quick hug and left the ship.

I shut the door and slipped on a loose, short black dress which I used as a nightgown. I let my hair out and shook it loose, then pulled back the covers of my bed and slid in, using the force to switch the light off.

The next day...

I had a really weird dream last night: in it, Darth Maul hated Obi-Wan because long ago Obi-Wan beat him in a cake eating competition. So both Savage and Maul challenged him to a team rematch. Ahsoka helped Obi-Wan win, then they had to get out of there before the brothers killed them in anger. Then, it was me in the Temple Mess Hall with Anakin, and someone was cutting a cake. General Greivous waltzed in (literally waltzed) wearing a pink leotard and then started dancing to Gangnam Style. Amongst all the confusion and people desparately trying to hide their eyes from the terrifying sight that was General Greivous, I got stabbed in the chest and stomach with the knife. It was obviously deliberate. Then, I died and Anakin went crazy and killed everyone in the room. It was very strange, yet had small elements of truth.

I sat up with a yawn and rubbed my eyes. I stretched and got up, then did my 'morning exercises'. I did a front flip, then a back flip, then a series of rolls, used the force to lift my bed up and flip it over then back again, did a cartwheel and walked out the door to the cockpit. I was awake now.

I walked over to a small fridge and had some breakfast, then got dressed. I brushed my hair and decided to leave it out today. I headed to the training room and looked around for someone I could duel. As if on cue, Jason entered the room. He spotted me and jogged over, grinning.

"Have you been caught yet?" I asked.  
"Nope! But there are a few people who I think suspect it was me." he said, cautiously glancing from side to side. I rolled my eyes.

I glanced over to an unoccupied dueling mat. He saw me and I force-jumped over to the mat. "Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!" I called to him, and he ran over to join me. He took his silver lightsaber off of his belt and activated it and setting it to stun, I did the same. His had a shimmering green blade. He did a Makashi salute which sent shivers down my spine; it was just like the one Dooku had so often used. I swung my blades around in a complex movement.

He ran in with and attack, and I sidestepped and blocked it. He stepped back and flipped over my head quickly. I spun around and crossed my blades, making it harder for him to penetrate them. I allowed him to push me almost all the way to the ground and kicked him so he rolled over me onto his back. I leapt up and prepared to swing when he force-pushed me up. I soared into the air, flipped and landed behind him.

He cursed and spun around, having difficulty deflecting the hard and fast blows of both lightsabers at once. I hurled both into his blade at once, and while he was deflecting, kicked him in the stomach. He flew backwards and lost grip of his lightsaber. I used the force to pick it up and pointed one blade to his neck.

"I. Win." I said, deactivating my sabers. I held out a hand to help him up but he yanked me onto the ground with him. Stunned, I went straight down on top of him. He laughed and I rolled off to his side. He got up and hauled me up. I glared at him. He raised his hands in defence. "Sorry! It was too tempting..." I couldn't help but smile at that.

I walked off towards the door. "Bye Jason." I said.  
"Bye!" he called. I rolled my eyes and left the room.

Cad Bane's POV

That night, at 11:30pm...

(Flashback to yesterday)

Dooku had met with me on one of his cruisers in the outer rim. Apparently, he had a really good job for me. I was one of the few people who could trust Dooku to pay me; I was too good too loose.

"I take it you've heard of the recent dilemma involving the Skywalker twins?" Dooku had asked me.  
"Yeah, I heard." I said. A droid walked up and handed Dooku a large case. He opened it, and inside were more credits than I had _ever _been even _close _to getting paid. I smiled. "Kill them, in the Temple," he said, "and it will all be yours." It hadn't taken me a second to decide I would go for it. This would be hard... risky... but there were too many credits to say no.

"I'll need a technical readout of the Temple, _everything. _I'll need to know where each twin spends the night. I'll need to know anyone close who I'll have to watch out for." I had said. He handed me a holo-pad. "This has everything you'll need to know." he said.  
"When do I start?"  
"Immediately."

(End of flashback)

The last time I broke into the Temple, I had gotten Todo to find a weak spot in the ray shield. Since they doubted anyone would try to break in again, it was still there and perfectly 'openable'. I got another droid to open it then disposed of it.

Using a map on the holo-pad, I wandered through the Temple ventilation shafts until I found myself above Skywalker and Kenobi's room. Anakin Skywalker lay sleep on one bed, and the other was empty. I had to move fast. Kenobi might be out for the night, or he might waltz in any second.

I grabbed my pistol, aimed and was about to fire when he rolled off the bed in alarm. It was too late; I had all ready fired the shot and it hit the bed. Damn those Jedi instincts! Skywalker's roll had taken him on to his back and he used the force to yank the grate away and pull me out of the roof. I hit the ground hard.

His lightsaber lay on a bedside table. He tried to use the force to get it but I tackled him to the ground and punched him in the face. He kicked me into the wall and went to punch me when I grabbed his wrist. I pressed down on a button on my wrist control glove and he screamed as electricity surged through him. It conducted really well through his right hand.

I smiled as he collapsed to the ground. I picked up my blaster, which had fallen to the floor when someone burst through the door and I was hit by an orange blur. I staggered back and looked up as a green lightsaber was pointed to my chest. It was his damn Padawan, Ahsoka Tano! The one I called Little Lady. She was wearing a pale blue nightgown.

"Don't move, slimo." she snarled. My gun had been knocked from my hand. It was out of reach, and with that thing an inch away from killing me, I was done for.

Just then, Kenobi jogged into the room, followed quickly by Verity Tyleen... or Skywalker, but what was I supposed to call her? I decided on Tyleen, as there was already a Skywalker.

She was instantly on the floor rolling her brother onto his back and trying to wake him. Her hair was loose and a bit messy. She was wearing a short black dress which I presumed she slept in. I could tell she was feeling very self-conscious of it. It made her look incredibly sexy, though.

A few seconds later, Skywalker regained consciousness and Tyleen helped him sit up. He took a few seconds to fully wake up and then stood with her help. Kenobi had contacted someone, and about twenty minutes later I was in a cell in the Coruscant prison. They sat me down on a chair and bound my hands behind my back with binders.

Kenobi, Tyleen, Skywalker and Tano stood opposite me, arms folded and looking fierce. "Who hired you?" Tano asked.  
"Isn't it obvious?" I replied.

"Dooku." Skywalker snarled.  
"Yeah, it was Dooku." I said.  
"Was Anakin the only person you were hired to kill?" Kenobi questioned. I looked at Tyleen. Actually I had been looking at her the whole time, just not at her face. She was _definitely _feeling self-conscious now. "No." I responded.

"I take it you were supposed to kill Verity as well?" said Kenobi.  
"You got it. The Skywalker twins." I said, having a hard time keeping my eyes of Tyleen in that dress. Skywalker seemed to notice this, and he stepped up and slapped me. Hard. With his robotic hand. No one tried to stop him.

Tyleen folded her arms across her chest. "How did you get into the Temple?" she asked. She was smart; asking the _right _questions. I didn't reply.

The kid spoke up. "The same way you did last time, right?" she asked with a smirk. I grumbled a reply. "Hm, I thought so. We really should get the ray shield strengthened." she said, matter-of-factly.

"You were going to kill me by shooting me through the vent, but how were you going to kill Verity?" Skywalker asked. Tyleen raised an eyebrow.

"An I'd tell you this, why?" I asked. Skywalker walked over and grabbed my chin.  
"Because if you don't, we'll have to mess with your head like we did last time. Would you like that?" he viciously. I sighed, then grinned.

"Tell me: how were you going to kill her?" he snarled.  
"Like this." I said, and squeezed my right fist. Electricity surged all over Tyleen's body and she screamed in pain, then collapsed onto the floor, writhing in agony.

I briefly thought back to when I had placed the transmitter on her shoulder: I had pretended to stumble and she had to 'catch' me. I had placed it on her shoulder and already had the corresponding one on my hand. One squeeze and it would activate, electrocuting her as long as I held it. They were both small, clear, stuck to almost anything and were hard to see.

Skywalker tackled me off my chair and punched me in the face, but I kept my fist clenched. I wondered how long it would take for him to realize the control was in my hands. He seemed to figure it out and rolled me onto my stomach. The control was in my left hand.

He gripped my right hand with his robotic hand and seemed to crush my fingers, I yelled in pain, but was drowned out by Tyleen's tormented cries. He quickly moved onto the next hand but I released the button before he broke anymore of my fingers.

My left hand cradled my right as Skywalker ran over to his sister, who lay on the floor, eyes closed and shuddering. Tano came over and searched my hand until she found the transmitter, ripping it from me the going to help Kenobi find the one on Tyleen.

Kenobi eventually found it and took it off gently. Skywalker cradled her in his arms and rocked her back and forth gently as she recovered from her screaming fit and brief moment of extreme pain. They called a clone over and he passed a scanner over her body, probably checking for any more transmitters. The clone came over and checked me too, then left. The Jedi all glared at me then left the room, Skywalker supporting his sister.

I fell back onto my bed. I was stuck in this stink hole again. Damn.

Anakin's POV

I helped Verity all the way back to her ship in the Temple hangar. Bane had intended to use that device to kill her, so it must of had a _lot _of charge in it. It had certainly ensured that she wouldn't be able to walk on her own for the next hour or so. I slid her onto her bed and gently whispered "Sleep tight." before turning off the light, shutting the door and walking back to my own room.

**I'd like to acknowledge purplewillowtrees' genius for Jason's dyeing Yoda's robes pink prank. It was straight out of her wonderful fanfic 'How to annoy'. I'm not sure if it was Yoda specifically, but still, great idea. **


	18. Chapter 18

**I apologize in advance for lack of action in this chapter. I have been trying to follow Celtice and Dukakis 2016's advice on consistency, so, yeah. Anyway, hopefully I improved a little… **

**Chapter 18**

Anakin's POV

I approached the _Millennium Falcon _looking for Verity. Obi-Wan and Adi Gallia had gone after Savage Opress and Darth Maul, and apparently the Council had a mission for the two of us in the meantime.

"Verity!" I called, peeking around the corner of the corridor to see her in the area just behind the cockpit, walking to a small fridge and putting something inside. She looked up and smiled. "Hey." she said. I returned her smile and nodded.  
"Feeling better?" I asked.  
"Just a headache, nothing serious."

"Good. Anyway, the Council's got a mission for us. Something about a Senate ball. They told me to come and get you."  
"How nice of them." she commented, and followed me out of her ship. We had just left the hangar when Jason ran up to us.

"Hey, you guys okay? I heard about last night. That slimo Bane apparently managed to get in here and nearly killed you both." he said, his eyes lingering on Verity with worry at that last part.

"Yeah, well thanks, but we better get going." I said, and started off.  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm coming with you. You guys aren't the only ones who have been assigned to this mission you know." Jason said, jogging to catch up to us. I mentally face palmed. Damn. Jason was definitely not the most serious, reliable Jedi around. He was the Quinlan Vos of the Knights.

The three of us walked in silence to the Council Chambers. We entered and walked to the center of the room, bowing in respect. Obi-Wan and Master Gallia's seats were empty, not even filled with a hologram like several other Council Members.

"Skywalker, Tyleen. Glad I am, to see that alright you are." said Master Yoda. We nodded, and looked up to see Master Windu speak.  
"In three days time the biannual Senate Ball will be taking place in a large building on the planet Alderaan." he said seriously. "Over 600 Senators and Representatives will be attending. With so many Senators in one place, and not a very secure place at that, an attack is imminent."

"My Padawan and I will lead the outside security force: a large squad of Clones and Senate Guards will be monitoring the outside of the building and surrounding areas." said Master Unduli.

"You three have been selected as a small inside security force." said Master Mundi.  
"Blaxstarr, you will act as the Chancellor's personal Jedi body guard; where he goes, you go. Skywalker, you will assume the false identity of Daniel Lore; an aspiring politician from Alderaan. Tyleen, you will assume the false identity of Marina Zyler; representative of Felucia." Windu said.

"The only Senators who will know your true identities are the Chancellor, the Senators from Felucia, who will not be attending, Bail Organa from Alderaan and Senator Amidala, as you have worked closely with her before and she may recognize you."

Just as he said that, I was more glad than ever that I had some practice at not looking guilty when I was, in fact, very much so.

"You will be briefed further the night of the ball. In the meantime, Skywalker and Tyleen, you are to meet Senators Amidala and Organa at the Senate building to be fitted with appropriate clothing for the night." Master Windu said.

Verity went white and seemed to go off into a daydream. Or nightmare. She looked as though she might pass out. "Are you quite alright, Miss Tyleen?" Plo Koon asked.  
"Oh, yes. Fine." she said, snapping out of her daydream.  
"Good." Windu said with a nod, and we walked out of the room.

"I have to go search up some guy in the archives. See ya!" Jason said as we left, jogging off. I turned to Verity.  
"What is it?" I asked. She sighed.  
"Senator Amidala... choosing my clothes for a senatorial ball." she said miserably as we walked to the hanger.

"Yeah, what's so bad about that?" I asked. She stopped and stared at me.  
"Have you _seen _her clothes lately? What about her _hair_? It's kind of hard to miss the way she does it! The dresses are far too... professional... and decent and... weird." she said. "And I've seen her when her hair looks like a giant pretzel!"

Okay, even I had to admit Padmé outfits were... interesting... but she was still beautiful. However, there was no way I could picture Verity wearing _anything _in Padmé's style of clothing...

"Why can't they just call in some Felucians to dress me?" she complained.  
"Because you're not Felucian. The species, I mean."

We got into a speeder and I began to fly us to the Senate building. "What if I end up looking like some kind of dead fish?" she moaned. I laughed and landed us in a space outside the building, where Padmé and Senator Organa were waiting for us. Padmé was wearing her long purple dress with a blue top underneath and her hair was in a long, cage/tube headdress thingy.

"Anakin, Verity." Padmé said with a smile.  
"Senators." I said with a slight bow.  
"Well," Padmé said rather excitedly, "this is where we split. Anakin, Bail is taking you to Alderaan to be fitted. Verity, I'll take you to my favourite shop. See you later." she said eagerly, and quickly got into a speeder behind Captain Typho, her pilot. Verity, rather hesitantly, followed and sat beside her.

"Bye!" Padmé called. I waved and smirked at Verity, who glared back at me.  
"Come, let me escort you to my ship." Senator Organa said. I turned and followed him further into the hangar.

Verity's POV

Padmé's pilot pulled up outside a large, fancy dress shop on the higher levels of Coruscant. She thanked him and said she'd contact him when we were ready to be picked up. He nodded and flew away.

"Now, Verity. As you need to be well disguised for the party, I have some brown contact lenses for you back at my apartment. Believe me, I think your eyes are beautiful but the Jedi Council specifically said different eye colour. After we've found you a dress, my hairdresser's going to do some mucking about with your hair, maybe some temporary streaks?" she said as we entered the shop.

"Uh..." I stuttered.  
"No worries!" Padmé cut in. "I didn't expect you to be the fashion obsessed type. Just, take a look around and tell me what you like." and with that, Padmé walked off to examine a rack of bright yellow dresses causing me to cringe.

I walked off to look at some of the darker coloured dresses. "Too short... too long... too revealing..." I said under my breath as I examined a rack of black dresses.

I sighed. Something told me Padmé wouldn't accept plain black. I wandered over to a rack of dark blue gowns. I picked one up and examined it, before returning it to the shelf. I repeated this process several times before Padmé came rushing over with a pile of dresses.

"Just say no to any you can't stand. If it's okay, say yes, and I mean at least _okay. _Be honest."

She held up a pink dress. "No." A short emerald green one. "No." The yellow one she had been looking at. "No." A short dark purple one. "Turn it around." I said. She turned it to reveal the large see through areas on the sides. "No."  
"Golly..." Padmé muttered as I turned down several more dresses. "Remember, I said only turn down ones you can't stand."  
"I know."

"What about this?" Padmé asked, and held up a short, blood red satin dress.  
"Uh..."  
"That's it, you're trying it on!" Padmé shoved my into a changing room, gave my the dress and shut the door, which I then locked.

I sighed and put the dress on. It was actually alright. It came down to my knees and was easy to move in. It was comfortable and had a black ribbon tied just below my chest into a bow at the back. I opened the door and Padmé jaw dropped open.

"Oh my god... you actually put it on." she said.  
"Uh, yeah. It's alright, so-"  
"Brilliant! Take it off. The Jedi Council gave me enough credits, we're buying it!" she shoved me back into the changing room and I quickly got dressed. I heard Padmé contacting her pilot.

We bought the dress and left the shop to find him already there. We got in the back of the speeder and he drove us to some hairdresser's.

Padmé had a quick chat with the twi'lek woman at the counter. The woman nodded and walked into a room at the back of the store. "Okay. I talked to the hairdresser and we're going to dye your hair."  
"WHAT?" I shouted, gaining an odd stare from and elderly woman getting her hair cut.

"Don't worry, it's only temporarily. She has special stuff which can get it out, the second the ball's over. I already got you some." she said, holding up a bottle of clear liquid.

I looked at my boots, almost too afraid to ask. "...What colour?"  
"Don't worry!" Padmé laughed. I immediately started to worry. "Really. We were thinking black, with a few red streaks down the bottom. To match your dress."

I sighed in relief. "That's alright. But, it's a bit punk, isn't it? I mean, I _am _going as a Senator. I doesn't seem very..."

"Senatorial?"  
"Yeah."  
"Don't worry. It'll go with your outfit, so no one will question it. It'll be all about the fashion at the party."  
"Well, I'm just glad it won't be green or something."

"Well, I did consider pink." she said. I felt the colour drain from my face.  
"I'm only joking!" she added, as the hairdresser wheeled a small cart out and told me to take a seat.

"Here, I got these for you. This could take a while." Padmé handed me several magazines on the war, new ships and weaponry.

"Thanks!" I said, gratefully snatching them up.  
"No problem." she replied, sitting down on a chair near me, pulling out a fashion mag.

I began flicking through the pages of the weaponry book, smiling at the dress sense of those with the weaponry. Lucky them.

Several hours later...

Anakin's POV

The fitting hadn't been all that bad for me. I got to choose a great deal of what I was wearing, and smirked at the thought of how Verity would turn out. I stood in the Temple hangar, Bail having dropped me off a few hours ago. Padmé had called me to say she and Verity would be arriving soon.

I felt her presence getting closer, and soon spotted a speeder in the distance. Captain Typho landed in the hanger and Padmé got out, along with a girl with black hair and red streaks. A girl who wore the same clothes as Verity...

I ran over and Padmé smiled broadly. "May I introduce Marina Zyler." she said, indicating my sister.  
"Wow." I said, running my robotic hand through her now raven black hair.  
"Temporary." Verity said.  
"Ooh, almost forgot!" Padmé said, handing Verity a small plastic bag with brown contact lenses in them. "I'd try them on soon, so you can get used to them." she said. Verity nodded and took the bag.

Both girls smirked to each other and spun on their heels to face me. "So, bro." said Verity.  
"How are _you _getting dressed up?" Padmé finished.  
"Umm, you know, black?"  
"In a suit?" Verity asked excitedly.  
"Uh, no. Just, sought of, basic black jumpsuit, robe thingy. Kind of like, what Senator Clovis wore, but in black." I replied.  
"Ohhhh." the girls said in unison.  
"What?"  
"We wanted to see you in a tuxedo..." Padmé said disappointedly.

"No way! A tux is _way _to decent for me!" and at that, both the girls burst out laughing.  
"What else?" Verity asked, after managing to control her laughter.  
"Uh, I don't know... they're covering up my scar, giving me matching gloves, darker blue contacts... stuff like that." I replied awkwardly.

"How are they going to tame your wild hair?" Verity asked, flicking a loose strand from my eyes.  
"Bail asked me the very same question." we laughed again and Padmé left with Typho. I took the opportunity to put _Verity _through those awful questions.

"So, let's see the dress." I said with a smirk as we walked into her ship. She pulled the dress out of a bag and flung it at me. "No, no, no." I said. "Put it on."  
"Why the force would I do that?" I asked.

"Because if you don't, I'll tell Jason and we will both question you about your little shopping trip." I said teasingly.  
"You wouldn't."  
"I would." I replied. She glared at me.  
"You are a cruel human being."  
"I try." I said, throwing her the dress.

She stomped into her cabin and slammed the door. A few minutes later she emerged, wearing the dress. I smirked. "Can I take it off now?" she grumbled.

"Aw, I don't know. I quite enjoy seeing my pretty sis in her pretty dress." I said triumphantly. Verity sat on the ground and began unbuckling her right shoe. She stood up, shoe in hand, and thwacked me on the side of my head with it.

"Ow!" I said, rubbing my head. Ok, so I had sensed some hostility coming from her, but taking off her shoe just to hit me with it?

"Hmph!" she said, and with that she spun around, held her head up high and strolled back to her cabin. I rolled my eyes.  
"You should dress up more often!" I called.  
"One word of this to _anyone_, and I'm calling Padmé to help me force you into a tuxedo!" she replied. I chuckled and left her ship. Almost instantly a more serious demeanor passed over me.

Padmé and I hadn't shared our secret with anyone. The only ones who knew were R2 and 3PO. As for the priest who married us, he didn't know I was a Jedi. But Padmé would understand that Verity was the one person who I'd want to tell. So I would ask Padmé. That wouldn't mean I'd tell Verity straight away, but Padmé would know this question had been coming for her, and I hoped she had the best answer for both of us. Verity would tell no one, I was sure of that, but our secret was so sacred to us... sharing it didn't seem right.

**Umm, yeah. Voila. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Sorry for not updating, but I really enjoy doing nothing in the holidays, you know? Anyway, I won't be able to update for about two weeks, so, yeah. Read.**

**Chapter 19**

Anakin's POV

I hadn't seen Padmé since she dropped Verity off at the Temple three days ago. It was the night of the Senate Ball, so we obviously couldn't discuss it tonight. I wanted to talk to her about Verity in person, not via holoprojector.

The ball didn't start for a few hours, but still Verity, Jason and I were being dragged off to discuss the security and plan for the night. As we strode down the halls towards the war room, we spotted Obi-Wan.

"Master, you're back!" I said, jogging over to him, Verity close behind and Jason following her. I could see Obi-Wan strangely eyeing her hair.  
"Did you succeed?" Verity asked. Obi-Wan looked at his feet.  
"No... quite the opposite... Master Gallia is dead; Opress killed her." he said quietly. Verity paled.  
"No... this is all my fault! If I had-"  
"Verity, it is _not_ your fault. If you had done anything differently, you may still be Dooku's apprentice." Obi-Wan reasoned.

Jason bowed his head solemnly. "She was a friend. So kind..." he said.  
"When did you get back?" I asked.  
"Late last night. She won't be having a ceremony until after the ball, so that she can be given more attention." he replied. "Well, I guess you better get to your meeting then."

"Wait till you see Verity in her dress." I said. Verity spun around and I ducked just before her fist collided with my face. Obi-Wan managed a weak smile. "I wouldn't miss it." he said, then continued on his way.

We resumed walking to the communications center, but this time didn't speak. We entered and saw that Barriss Offee and Master Unduli were waiting for us. "Late, as usual." Unduli stated as she turned to us. I couldn't tell who she was referring to.

"We had a run in with Master Kenobi." Jason said. Luminara shook her head sadly.  
"Adi's death was tragic, but she did her duty." her eyes lingered on Verity as she said this.

"We should probably start the briefing, then." I said, trying to get Luminara's attention off my sister.  
"First, I believe introductions are in order." Luminara replied, stepping aside to let Barriss through.  
"Master Skywalker." she said with a nod of her head, then did a full on bow to Jason and Verity, who she obviously hadn't met before.  
"Barriss Offee." she said, straightening up again.  
"Jason Blaxstarr."  
"Verity Tyleen."

"Now before we get into any details, Skywalker, I must ask if I could borrow Padawan Tano to patrol with Barriss tonight." Luminara asked.  
"I'll contact her immediately." I replied and called Ahsoka, giving her a brief overview of the task. She arrived a minute or so later, greeting us with a slight bow.

"Good." Luminara said, pressing several buttons on the holoprojector table and bringing up an image of a large building. "Now, Ahsoka and Barriss, you and your troops will be patrolling the south and west sides of the building whilst my troops and I will take the north and east. If you see anything remotely suspicious, report it immediately." she explained, pointing out sides of the building on the holo-projection.

"Skywalker, Tyleen, the ball will be held in a hall on the second floor of this three story building." Luminara continued, pressing another button and bringing up an inside shot of the building. "All guests will enter here, on the top level, get their name announced and parade down a deliberately flashy and large staircase to the main room."

"Well, atleast it will be easy to see if someone's attacking from above." Verity acknowledged, pointing out the fact that the top floor was practically non-existent, just two open hallways looking down on either side of the hall with a few rooms on the side.

"What's on the bottom floor?" Jason asked.  
"The kitchen, and separate storage rooms for tables and chairs, several guest rooms, a lounge and an emergency exit that leads away from the building to a large hangar nearby." Barriss answered. Verity raised her eyebrows.  
"We'll have to keep an eye on it. An exit means an entrance, too." she said.  
"The Senator from Alderaan had it built in case of an attack. In the event of an attack on the outside of the building, all those inside the building must help evacuate the Senators using the passageway and ships in the hangar. Blaxstarr, you must of course remain with the Chancellor. If the enemy somehow manages to infiltrate the security at the hangar or starts an attack from the inside, evacuate the Senators through the front door."

"Where are Anakin and I going to put our lightsabers?" Verity asked.  
"I was planning to get an astromech from-"  
"R2 can do that." I interrupted.  
"Ok then. We will place R2 in a accessible location, under the table, perhaps. In the event something does happen, you can collect your lightsabers from him."

"Has he got enough room for three?" Verity asked.  
"He had enough room for four on Zygerria." Ahsoka commented.

Verity turned to look at Ahsoka, then back to face me. What were you guys doing on Zygerria?" she asked, puzzled.  
"Obviously Dooku didn't tell you about that either. At one point he was there to either watch over or perform Ahsoka's, Obi-Wan's and my execution." I said. Verity scowled.  
"I wonder who he hates more now; you, or Master Skywalker." Ahsoka said to her, causing Verity to smirk.  
"I'll make sure it's me, one day, in the hopefully not-too-distant future." she said.  
"Oh yeah?" I challenged.

"_Anyway_," Luminara began, "I believe we've covered everything _you three _need to be here for." she said, pointing to Jason, Verity and I. "If you could leave me with Barriss and Ahsoka, I would like to discuss their patrols."

"Of course, Master Unduli." Verity said, bowing her head, and leading the way out of the room. Jason and I followed.

We continued walking down the long hallway together. "She does _not _like me." Verity stated.  
"Can you blame her?" Jason teased. Verity punched his arm, then grinned, indicating she was joking.  
"Well, I'm going to go do some training before tonight. While I can still be a kickass, non-feminine, force-sensitive warrior." she said, then ran off to the training room.

The second she was out of sight, Jason moaned and rubbed his arm. "Sheesh, that girl can punch!" he said. I laughed.  
"Didn't wanna show any weakness in front of her, huh?" I asked.  
"Would you?"  
"It's kind of hard to help it when you're being tortured."

Jason shuddered. "Why do the Separatist have to be led by Sith?"  
"They won't be if she has anything to say about it." I said, nodding down the hallway Verity had gone down.

"Yeah, well, I think I'll go join her; burn off some energy before tonight."  
"See ya." I said, and he grinned before heading off towards the training room.

I walked off towards the hangar. I had considered going to see Padmé, but if I knew my wife, she'd already be getting ready for tonight. I smiled to myself at the thought of her walking gracefully down the stairs tonight, leaving every other girl for dead next to her beauty. _Well, almost everyone_, I thought, as an image of Verity in her dress came to mind. What could I say? Verity was a pretty person. If pretty was the right word.

I slid under my Starfighter and began tinkering away. There was no such thing as too many upgrades in the world of mechanics.

Verity's POV

It was still three hours until the ball when Padmé got me over to her apartment. Captain Typho dropped us off at some beauty parlor, or something. Padmé was already dressed in a long, thin strapped, sparkly light blue dress, with cuts down the side which showed up to her mid-thigh.

She sent me into a back room to get changed, and I was surprised that she didn't comment on my boots. I guess she figured out that if I _did _get into a fight, it would be easier to fight in flats, not high heels.

I came back out and put my contact lenses on. A young Terrelian Jango Jumper girl was already hard at work applying makeup to Padmé's face. She must have already spoken to someone about me, because soon after another woman came over and circled me, brow furrowed.

"Hmm, would you mind takin' a seat, love?" she said, in a strange accent. I nodded and sat at one of the chairs as she went to grab some makeup or something. I shuddered and began searching around for something to read. I cursed when I realized all that was there were these girly model mags. I sighed and sunk low into the seat as the woman returned.

"Ok, so I was thinking put on a little foundation, little blush, some mascara, eyeliner, pink lip-gloss and some brown and gold shadow to really bring out those gorgeous eyes of yours." she said, then looked to me for some form of comment. I nodded dumbly, wondering if she realized I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. She seemed to get the picture and started slowly explaining it all to me. I nodded absentmindedly and she began applying the horrible-smelling stuff called foundation.

**Poor Verity, having to sit through all that… (shudders)….**


	20. Chapter 20

**I know, I know, it's been almost five months. I'd like to apologise for the- **_**HEY!**_** *ducks clone helmet headed for my face* **_**WHO threw that? Was it YOU? I'm watching you! **_**Well, as I was saying before I was so **_**rudely **_**interrupted, five months. Sorry. I blame stress, assignments, and a five-week trip. Also lack of motivation to write. Well, here it is finally.**

**Admittedly, this chapter has been pretty much done for ages. I just wanted to figure out what was happening in the next one first and suffered from a bit of writer's block. It's like, I knew what was going to happen, and it would work, but it was too complicated for my brain at the time; I was stressed out. Well, finally I said "That's it; I'm writing this thing", fixed up a few problems and got ready to post it. **_**Finally, **_**the long-awaited Senate Ball. **

**Chapter 20**

Verity's POV

I walked to the cockpit and peered down at the troops patrolling the perimeter of the hall, which way protected by several shield generators. Captain Typho brought down Padmé Amidala's Naboo ship on a large landing platform not far from the building. It was huge.  
"As many other Senators will be attending tonight, I can only drop you off my lady." he said, lowering the ramp.  
"That's fine Captain, thank you. Come on, Marina." she replied, walking down the ramp. Anakin, or should I say Daniel, had arrived earlier with R2 and Bail Organa.

Padmé led the way to the large, grand entrance of the hall. There was already a small line of Senators waiting to be announced, along with someone checking identities and asking the name of the system they represented, before contacting and telling the announcer. A small set of stairs led up to the top of the next.

Padmé made small talk with several Senators until her name was called. She flashed me a friendly smile, then proceeded to walk gracefully down through the doors and disappeared down the steps. I ran my hand through my hair and told the person my name and system.

"So that's Marina Zyler, Representative of Felucia?" he checked. I nodded in response. The announcer called my name and I walked confidently up the steps. I may have been posing as a Senator, but if people were looking at me I wanted them to think 'Wow, this girl means business!'.

A red carpet covered the marble stairs. It seemed that hundreds of people were already there, chatting and drinking out f delicate wine glasses. A band was playing music and several couples were dancing. Almost instantly a small group of women rushed up to me. They introduced themselves, doing the whole 'I don't believe we've met' thing, and then started talking about people's dresses and hair accessories.

"Oh, Marina!" the girl called Ralaja said. "Did you see Senator Chuchi? She looks absolutely-" the girls froze as two young men walked past. They squealed softly.  
"Pleasure to meet you Marina, but we really must be off!" one said, and I rolled my eyes as the girls hurried off in the direction of the two men.

I looked around to see if there was anyone I would relate to. Senator Amidala was talking to... wait... was that... Anakin? I resisted the urge to laugh. He looked good, sure, but _way _too decent. Too made-up. Too proper. And his fringe had been pulled back off his eyes.

I continued looking around when a young man walked up to me. He was about my age, with fashionably messy blonde hair and blue eyes. He grinned and held out his hand. "Cayen Braiyell, Senator from Mistus 3." I took his hand and used all of my strength to refrain from flinching as he, instead of shaking it, lightly kissed it. I pretended to look flattered or blush and tried not to roll my eyes.

The band began playing another song, and Cayen asked me to dance with him. Not wanting to cause and outburst or seem odd or rude, I reluctantly accepted, and quickly picked up the feel for the slow waltz. I saw Anakin smirking at me. I wanted to give him an angry look, but unless I leant my head on his shoulder, Cayen would see. I had no intention of laying my head on Cayen's shoulder.

The song finished but Cayen's grip on my waist remained. "Wow." he said. I tried to subtly back out of his grip. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Cayen. Now I think it's time for me to go and say hello to the many people I have not yet spoken with." I said, flashing him a smile and walking over to speak to a blue Pantoran woman. There was something wrong about Cayen. Something I sensed. For now I decided that I was just feeling awkward about his personality, but didn't dismiss the feeling.

I discovered that the Pantoran woman was the famed Senator Chuchi the group of girls had been talking about. She was definitely beautiful, and was actually a really nice, fascinating woman. She didn't think as much of the dresses and small talk as most others I had encountered, but was instead interested in deep conversations from which she could learn, and make _true _new friends from.

The conductor of the band announced that they would be playing a multi-partner song, if that's what it could be called. A waltz-like dance in which the partners would change several times. I reluctantly bade Chuchi farewell and she left in search of a partner. I went to go and stand at the edge of the crowd gathering to dance, trying to avoid it completely.

Just my luck that Cayen, of all people, had to be the one noticing I wasn't joining in. "Come on," he said, holding out his hand, "give it a go?" I put on a fake smile, accepted his hand and allowed him to lead me onto the dance floor.

A lively, fast waltz started up and I had to use the force to help my coordination. Much to Cayen's obvious delight, the result made me look like I was much better at it than everyone else. He swung me around and I caught a glimpse of Padmé dancing with Anakin. I couldn't help my eyes narrowing slightly but quickly turned my attention back to the dance.

After a few more seconds of dancing, someone called out "Change!" and Cayen spun me so that I was facing another man. Cayen's grip lingered but he then let go and turned to face his next partner.

I found myself face to face with a very tall Nautolan dressed in brown. We continued the dance, and he twirled me around the floor with ease. Eventually, a man called out "Final change" and I spun to face my final partner. I barely contained my stunned expression when I found myself face to face with Anakin, who also seemed surprised. The look quickly vanished and he smirked. I then grinned. With that smirk, he had challenged me to dance, to keep up with him. With that grin, I had cockily accepted. This may not have been my thing, but I couldn't turn down a brother-vs-sister challenge. Time to ignore the awkwardness and slightly alter the dance...

The music started and we started with a quick, spinning waltz, then Anakin made the first move and lifted me up at my waist and spun me around before dipping me to the ground. He gently pulled me up and I spun away, releasing myself from his grip. I moved my arms gracefully around me as if I were wielding my lightsabers, then leapt with my hands above me -naturally, without the force- high into the air, spun and landed perfectly in a sought of bowing position.

Anakin gently took hold of my right hand as I stood up, then we spun around each other and executed some more fancy moves. It was amazing what the force could do to help a girl who hadn't danced since she was seven. Anakin spun me around once more and held me in a dipped position, smirking, as the song ended.

I couldn't help but notice Padmé standing near the front of the crowd, smiling but seeming jealous at the same time. Jealous that I had shared that dance with Anakin and not her. This time I managed to stop myself from narrowing my eyes. I also noticed Cayen glaring pure hatred at Anakin, and Jason... I couldn't read his expression from his distant position beside the Chancellor, but I could tell he wasn't happy about something. Great, now he'd be angry at me for practically blowing our cover.

Suddenly the Chancellor's voice rang out through a speaker and everyone turned to watch as the man on the small stage and began to make what sounded as if it would be a very long and very boring speech. The crowd slowly dissipated and moved towards the Chancellor and I moved with it, however I noticed Cayen straying behind.

I slowly pushed backwards through the absent-minded crowd towards Cayen, brushing past Senator Chuchi, who seemed to be the only one who noticed I wasn't moving with the crowd. "Where are you going?" she whispered. I put a finger to my lips.  
"You'll find out when everyone's safe. Possibly tomorrow, or very late tonight." I replied quietly, then set off after Cayen again, crouching slightly as I pushed past people.

I emerged from the crowd just as he followed the steps down to the bottom level of the hall. I pulled out a hidden comlink from the ribbon around my dress and called R2, telling him to meet me downstairs but hang back until I called for him. Cautiously, I followed Cayen. There was still the incredibly slight chance that he was innocent, but the fact he was going down here during the speech, let alone at all, screamed guilty.

I reached the top of the stairs and stopped to consider how I was going to go about doing this. There were two clones guarding the emergency exit, which had been well sealed. Every ten metres a scanning password-protected blast-shield door had been brought down. They'd only open if an identified Jedi or a Senator and clone were scanned and submitted the password from the inside. Only two clones stood guard because we believed the attack would be on the outside of the facility. They were simply going to help in the case of evacuation.

He seemed to have a bit of a thing for me, so I'd pretend I saw him going down and followed him to talk, pretending I had feelings for him. Ok, that's what I'd do.

I timidly walked down the steps and around the corridor to find Cayen shutting a cleaning supplies cupboard door and no guards in sight. "Hello Cayen." I said and he jumped then spun to look at my smiling face. He sighed in relief.

"Oh, it's just you, Marina." he said. I noticed one of the panels on either side of the door glowing. Someone had recently been scanned. A _clone _had recently been scanned.  
"Who were you expecting?"  
"I just didn't want to be caught by someone I hadn't met, wondering why I wasn't at the Chancellor's speech."  
"And you're not because...?"  
"Because these types of speeches are so_ boring._" he replied. "What about you?"

"I followed you down." I said simply.  
"Tell me; should I be jealous? It looked like you knew your last dancing partner quite well." he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. He must have dropped out of the dance and watched me. Was I supposed to feel flattered or creeped out? I was leaning towards creeped out.  
"That man I danced with, his name's Daniel Lore. We briefly dated about five years ago. We decided it wasn't working, so we neutrally ended it as friends. But we've always had this... competitiveness. That was one example of it." I lied, trying to awkwardness of pretending that I'd dated my brother.

"So... I take it by the fact that you've told me this that you might agree to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?"  
"I'd love to." I answered, flashing him a seductive smile. He put his hands behind his back and started fiddling with something.

"Great, well, in that case..." I sensed his lunge a split second before it happened and jumped out of the way, spinning around as Cayen collided with the wall. There was a needle in his hand, and I almost didn't want to know what he tried to drug me with. Almost.

"What are you doing?" I cried out, like any scared and confused Senator would.  
"Look Marina, you're nice, and I like you. That's why I'm going to save you."  
"Save me? From what? And I can take care of myself, thank you very much." Cayen shook his head.

"In ten minutes a group of highly trained warriors is going to sweep through that exit," he said, pointing to the emergency exit, "and wipe out _everyone_. The rest of the army will attack from the outside, breaching the perimeter forces. Once that is done, there will be no escape. Do you really think you can survive _that_? Even if you had a weapon you'd be overwhelmed."

"You're a part of this? You're letting highly-trained warriors in to kill everyone? My friends, and yours?"  
"They're not my friends." he spat.  
"You're not even a proper Senator, are you?"  
"Oh I gained this position for real. It took me years to work my way up, but it'll be worth it."  
"Why do you think I'd stay with you after I found this out?"  
"You wouldn't remember," he said, holding up the syringe, "but even if you did I'd keep you." I shuddered. "What do you want?"  
"Revenge."

"Well what a surprise! I'm shocked, gob smacked, I really am!" I said sarcastically. "It's always revenge. I'd advise against it, though. It nearly got me killed. Several times."  
"What did you do to anyone?"  
"No, no, it was my revenge. But the question is what do _you _want revenge for?" I asked, folding my arms and feeling around for my comlink. "Tell me." I said, still looking at Cayen, then switched on the comlink. "_Now_." I said loudly, then switched it off. He glared at me slightly then gave in. "I'm Mandalorian."  
"Your point being?"

"Three thousand years ago, the clan my family lead and ruled was wiped out by an army, lead by a Jedi named Revan."  
"You're doing this because of something the Jedi, not the Senate,did three _thousand _years ago?" I asked. Cayen glared at me before continuing.  
"All were killed immediately, excepting one of my ancestors; the clan leader, who escaped mortally wounded. On his deathbed he told his daughter to avenge him, to pass on what she learned, even if it took a thousand years. She did just that, and descendant after descendant was trained. Yes, occasionally -once or twice- there were reluctant people along the way: people who didn't want to fight."

I raised an eyebrow before he continued with an evil smiled. "They were replaced."  
"Ok, so you're a descendant of vengeance-seeking Mandalorians who want to destroy the whole Jedi Order because of the actions of one man and his followers, I get that. So you attack the Senate to try to destabilize the Order, have them panicking and then attack the Jedi. _However_, one man alone couldn't do that, and there would still have to be more motive to attack the entire Senate, _therefore_ you are working with another large and well-trained organization who you could relate to who would gain from this attack. Simple answer: Death Watch." hopefully he still thought I was just a Senator and had just heard about Death Watch from the meetings on it.

Cayen gritted his teeth and I smiled triumphantly, then I saw something in his eyes, something I recognized. I tilted my head. "You didn't want to destroy the Jedi at first... did you? You wanted to leave it behind, live your own life. You rejected your parents teachings."  
"How would you know that?"  
"Only because I did it too. You didn't want to fight, then something nudged you along..."

"My parents wanted to destroy the Jedi Temple. They almost succeeded too, but were stopped by a Jedi... Adi Gallia..." I hid my surprised expression at the mention of the dead Jedi. "She caught them and handed them over to the Senate, and it was declared they would spend most of the rest of their lives in prison. They escaped four times and were recaptured three. After the third time the Senate gave their troops permission to shoot them if they escaped again. Jedi or no Jedi, I loved my parents."

"So now you fulfill your ancestors' mission _and_ get revenge for you parents. How sweet." out of the corner of my eye I saw R2 stop just out of Cayen's view around the corner. The top end of one of my lightsabers poked out from a hatch in his head dome.  
"So you want to kill all Jedi?" I asked.  
"Yes."

I looked directly at R2 and nodded. "Shame." my lightsaber shot out of R2 and I caught it, activated it and smirked as Cayen looked at it in alarm. I turned to R2 and gave him a mock salute. I caught my other lightsaber and ignited it, keeping one covering me and the other pointing towards Cayen.

"Jedi." Cayen hissed. Apparently he no longer had a thing for me. I smiled at him slyly.  
"Worse." lightning fast, Cayen whipped out a blaster, and fired several shots which I deflected into the ground. I had to atleast _try _take him alive for questioning.

I ran towards him, ducked low then swept my lightsabers up, destroying his blaster. I then kicked him into the wall and pointed the lightsaber in my left hand to his neck. I deactivated the other one and contacted Luminara.

"Master Unduli, Death Watch is going to attack! Make sure the hangar is well protected!"  
"I'm afraid it's too late!" she panted back.  
"They've already engaged you?"  
"They're attacking the hangar and breaching our defenses around the hall. They've already engaged the security forces and are quickly cutting through them! I was just about to sound the alarm. Find Skywalker and get the Senators to the hangar!"  
"Death Watch was going to smuggle soldiers through the emergency exit in the hangar, we'll have to evacuate the Senators on gunships! I'm currently guarding one of the leaders. He's a Senator." I replied.  
"Get a few clones to guard him and start dividing the Senators into groups of fifteen or so. We'll have to evacuate them to the cruisers we have in orbit. I'll contact Jason and tell him to get the Chancellor out."  
"Copy that." I said, then deactivated the comlink.

"R2, get some clones down here, will you?" R2 beeped a yes then sped off. A few seconds later a loud, blaring alarm sounded out through the hall. It stopped and Jason's voice came over the speakers.

"Attention all senators. I'm going to skip straight to the point and must ask you to remain calm. I am Jedi Knight Jason Blaxstarr and I must regretfully inform you that we are under attack by the terrorist organization known as Death Watch." I heard several shouts and a scream from upstairs, but Jason ignored it and continued. "They have the surrounding countryside encircled, however they have not been able to breech our perimeter forces. We are currently dropping gunships right outside the hall. Our clone troopers will divide you into groups of fifteen and you will be taken to one of three Republic cruisers. From there you will be flown to the Senate on Coruscant, where you can arrange your own transportation. Please make your way to the entrance of the hall."

I frowned. This would be tricky. With so many senators panicking and so many people to transport... I hoped the perimeter forces would hold. I looked up to see two clones run in, weapons raised. They lowered their guns and saluted. "Sir." they said in unison. They were followed by R2, who made a satisfied beep.

"Good job R2. Troopers, names please?" I said, looking at them yet watching Cayen at the same time. After dealing with so many droids, I liked the feeling of learning new names and struggling to remember old ones. I was also one of those people who, even when I still served under Count Dooku, believed clones were equal to us.

"Boxer," the clone on the left said, "and this is Cain." the clone on the right nodded in acknowledgment.  
"Pleasure to meet the both of you. Now, I'd like to introduce you to my little friend over here. His name -if it's not fake, that is- is Cayen Braiyell. He was Senator for Mistus 3, right up until a few minutes ago when I discovered he's a traitor who was going allow Death Watch troops into the building via the now compromised emergency hangar. You are to remain here and guard him. Keep him away from the door. I want one of you with your blaster set to stun and the other one set to kill. I will come back and tell you when and where to escort him, but for now keep him here. You know what to do." I said, then deactivated my lightsaber and jogged off up the stairs, R2 at my heels.

A large portion of the crowd had already been divided up into small groups and I pushed my way through, hearing the occasional gasp when someone I'd met saw my lightsaber hilts. My eyes briefly swept over Senator Chuchi, who was staring wide eyed, but I didn't slow down. Anakin, Jason and the Chancellor where standing near the door, watching as the first three gunships came down to land.

"Verity!" Anakin called as I reached the top of the steps. "Glad you're here. We're going to need some help getting everyone out."  
"Chancellor." I said, giving Palpatine a quick bow. A frown so quick I could barely see it flashed across his face, but was instantly replaced with a neutral look. "I suppose we should get you out first... but then again I'm not sure what we're up against, and you might meet some trouble during the flight..."  
"I do not desire to place myself before the hundreds of Senators here, Master...?" I stared at him for as second, trying to get my head around what he'd said... _Master? _No one had ever called me Master before... it was so strange that-

"Tyleen." Jason said for me. I blushed and nodded. "Your Excellency, I'm not sure I agree with you. We need to evacuate you as soon as-"  
"I strongly respect the Jedi for placing themselves before others, and I like to do that whenever possible. After all, I was elected to represent the Senators, not dominate them."  
"In that case, we should start evacuating the Senators now and you can join them after most of the groups have reached the cruisers. Is that alright with you Chancellor?" Anakin asked.  
"Of course, Anakin."  
"Good." said Jason before running off to some clones and getting them to help him pick out the first forty-five Senators in the crowd.

"Verity, Master Unduli said that you'd captured the traitor who's behind this. Where is he?" Anakin asked.  
"Being guarded by Boxer and Cain downstairs." I replied.  
"Might I ask who this traitor is?" the Chancellor asked, so I quickly explained to him about Cayen. "I see..." he said, nodding to himself just as Jason rushed past with several more clones, escorting the first group of Senators to the gunships. I stepped outside and craned my neck as they took off, and began to wonder if Death Watch had any ships in the air.

"Anakin," I said as I jogged back inside, "perhaps you should pilot the Chancellor to the cruisers."  
"It would be my pleasure to be flown by such a talented pilot." the Chancellor said, earning a smile from Anakin.  
"Well, I better go help get the next group of Senators ready." I jumped the stairs and started numbering people off into groups.

I quickly divided up the crowd of senators and by the time I was done Anakin was behind the controls of one of the gunships with the Chancellor and fourteen other senators on board. I watched it take off whilst ushering a group onto one of the other ships. I looked back into the hall to see five more groups waiting, and decided to go check on how Cain and Boxer were handling Cayen.

I jumped the staircase and walked around the corner and the first thing I registered was that Boxer and Cain were lying on the ground with blaster bolts through their helmets. The second was Cayen standing by the evac-door, trying to shoot me.

Sensing it in advance, I leapt to the side, rolled, and came up in a crouch with my activated lightsaber in my hand. I deflected his next few shots until one took the blaster from his hand. He cursed and held his hands up in surrender as I pointed my lightsaber at him.

"You just killed two people trying to escape. If you wanted to make an impression on me, that was the wrong one to make."  
"Clones, not people." he said.  
"_People,_" I continued, "who were definitely more worthy of life than you. And you killed them, in the end, for nothing."  
He smirked, "Not for nothing."

The words had barely left his mouth when I sensed the presence behind me. I spun around and backwards-rolled out of the way of a female Mandalorian's fist, briefly forgetting about my still-activated lightsaber. Suddenly the hilt was kicked from my hand, and it deactivated as it hit the floor. Trying to buy myself time to activate my other lightsaber, I sprung up and flung a kick that she blocked. She punched low and I grabbed her fist, then managed to get a hold of the other one as she went for my face.

She swept my legs out from beneath me and kicked my lightsaber away. I was vaguely aware of Cayen behind me, opening the door. The woman pulled out a blaster and I rolled out of the way as she shot at me several times. I then leapt up at her and tackled her to the ground, knocking her blaster from her grip and continuously punching her face. Suddenly I felt strong hands on my shoulders as Cayen lifted me off the woman, then attempted to throw me over his back. I backwards-kicked him in the stomach and he dropped me onto my left arm at a bad angle.

Ignoring the pain in my arm, I quickly got back onto my feet just as the woman came into punch me. She caught me in the chin and my head rocked back causing me to see stars. I then snapped back to reality and called my lightsaber to my hand just as the emergency exit door opened and ten more Mandalorian's spilled through.

Several fired at me and I dodged the shots, but was once again swept off my feet. The last thing I saw was a boot flying towards my face.

**Ok. I've got TONNES of assignments and assessment within the next two weeks, so don't expect an update before then. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review; I've missed you all!**


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